The Wind Beneath my Wings
by TheVillainofTheStory
Summary: Gaara has an adoptive twin sister who ran away to live alone in the desert. But now the Kazekage needs her to keep control over Gaara while they're in Konoha for the Chuunin exams. What is he planning?
1. Chapter 1

I wrote this a while ago, and it's posted on Quizilla, so I figured I would post it here as well. The plot is okay, but I don't think the writing itself is very good. Not descriptive enough. I hope you like it though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto :(

1

"Lord Kazekage," pleaded an elderly woman. "Please. Take this infant."

"It is not my duty to care for the children whose families cannot. Take the child to the nursery to be raised as a shinobi," said the Kazekage dismissively. Turning to the two shinobi in his quarters he commanded, "Take this woman out of my sight."

"She is not my child," defended the old woman. The ninja grabbed her arms. "I found her in the desert in a shack. The body of a woman was next to her. She's not my responsibility!"

"What on earth makes you think that I would want her? I have a son," said the Kazekage.

"She is what you wanted," yelled the woman frantically, struggling to break free of the ninjas' grasps.

"How do you mean?" asked the Kazekage slowly. _Could it have occurred naturally? Impossible!_

"She has a demon sealed in her, a wind demon! I can not handle her; she'll kill me! Please, take her. Make her one of the weapons known as shinobi!" said the woman quickly. "Just get her away from me!"

"Hand me the child," the Kazekage ordered. The old lady handed the baby over immediately, glad to be rid of it. The babe had red hair with wisps of blond and black in it. Her eyes were pale yellow. "What is her name?"

"I call her Kyanna, but her name is Akki," said the old woman.

"I will take her," said the Kazekage.

"Yashamaru! You're never around when I need you!" yelled the Kazekage as he stormed down the halls in the hospital nursery. He was carrying Akki at an awkward angle and seemed about to drop her.

"Lord Kazekage, please!" exclaimed Yashamaru. "This is the nursery! Infants are sleeping here!"

"I have another child for you to care for. Here," he shoved Akki at Yashamaru, who grabbed her quickly from the rough grasp of the Kazekage.

"Be careful with her!" snapped the nurse. He cradled the infant against his chest, trying to sheild her from the Kazekage.

"Treat her like Gaara. She is my daughter from henceforth. Her name is Akki. She has a wind demon sealed inside her," said the Kazekage curtly.

"Where did she come from? How was the demon sealed?" Yashamaru asked incredulously.

"The desert. It seems to be a natural sealing. Put her in with Gaara," said the Kazekage. Turning on his heel, the Kazekage stormed out of the infirmary into the windy night.

Yashamaru carried Akki to Gaara's room. Inside the room, a baby with red hair and pale green eyes sat on the floor. He smiled when he saw his uncle and tried to get up to greet him. Being only a little more than an infant, he immediately fell back to the ground on his bottom.

"Hello Gaara," smiled Yashamaru. "I have a surprise for you." He put the little girl down on the ground. Akki crawled over to Gaara. They looked at each other, trying to figure out what the other was. "This is your new sister. Her name is Akki. Akki, this is your brother Gaara."

Akki held out her hand toward Gaara. Gaara touched her hand with his. They began interacting as only babies understand, by touching. Akki actually crawled over and licked Gaara's cheek.

"Well, at least you two are getting along," said Yashamaru. "Two demons to look after. I have my work cut out for me."

Akki and Gaara were together at all times. They played together, ate together, and slept together. Even though Gaara didn't sleep, he pretended to while Akki did. Akki herself didn't sleep much. They both had the Kazekage's attention equally.

Sadly, they were both hated equally by the children and adults of the Sand village.

Akki and Gaara were sitting on a swing set watching some children play ball. "We should ask to play Gaara!" whispered Akki excitedly.

"But they don't like us Akki. We scare them. They'll only run away," he whispered sadly back. "Besides, we can go play ball at home. You and me."

"But it's supposed to be more fun with more people! Besides, the other kids say that Temari is unbeatable, and I want to beat her!" whispered Akki back.

"You were wind listening again, weren't you?" he asked in a reproachful voice. "Akki, that's not nice. If we were supposed to hear what the other kids were saying, they would have told us themselves."

Suddenly, the ball that the other children were playing with bounced up on the roof of a near by house. Rather than try to get it, the kids began to walk away with glum faces.

"Wait, we can get it for you," said Gaara.

"Yeah, watch!" said Akki. She sent a gust of wind up to the housetop and blew the ball down. Gaara caught it in a floating sand pile. The sand floated back to Gaara and he picked up the ball.

"It's Gaara and Akki! Run!" the children screamed. They began to run, scattering in all directions.

"No, don't go," Gaara called. The sand grabbed one girl by the ankle.

"Please," Akki added desperately. The wind pulled the girl forward.

"Leave me alone you monsters!" she yelled. The girl tried to barrel roll to get away and began thrashing wildly. The wind and sand reared back and slashed for the little girl.

Suddenly, Yashamaru jumped out of nowhere directly into the path of the sand and wind. It made several deep gashes in her forearm and one on her face. "Gaara, Akki! Stop!"

"Hand me that blade Akki," said Gaara. They were back home in their room. Yashamaru had gone to the infirmary to get her wounds cleaned and dressed.

"It won't do any good Gaara. I've already tried it on me. If the sand won't stop you from hurting yourself, the wind will. Face it, we'll never be able to know," she said sadly.

For as long as they could remember, they had been trying to see what pain felt like. They had tried jumping off buildings, stabbing themselves, and even walking through fire. Nothing had worked. Not only that, but they had to get past both wind and sand. Akki's wind for some reason protected Gaara, and Gaara's sand protected Akki.

She handed the blade over anyway. Gaara held it over the back of his hand, then plunged it down into… A pile of sand.

"I wish you two would stop trying to hurt yourselves. It makes me sad," said Yashamaru, walking into the room.

"Are you alright Yashamaru?" asked Akki quietly.

"We're sorry for hurting you," Gaara whispered.

"I'm fine you two. For not being blood related, you two sure are twin like," he said chuckling. "Two completely different parents and classes, yet here you are."

"We aren't blood related?" asked Gaara. "But father said that we're twins."

"We look the same, talk the same, and we even both have demons sealed inside of us," said Akki. "How is it possible we aren't related?"

"An old woman brought you to the kazekage when you were an infant, Akki. You were found out in the desert in a shack. Your demon was what we call a natural sealing; the demon chose to place itself in your body. You mother also died giving birth to you. Lord Kazekage brought you to me and told me that you were to be raised as Gaara's twin sister," explained Yashamaru. There was a long silence after he had finished his tale.

"Yashamaru?" asked Akki timidly.

"What's this feeling? It's like my heart is being squeezed," continued Gaara in a sad tone.

"We don't like it," they finished together.

"I think what you two are feeling is a different type of pain than being cut, or falling down. Those kinds of wounds can heal with the right kind of medicine. What you two are feeling is a wound of the heart. These kinds of wounds take time to heal, and sometimes they never heal at all," explained Yashamaru. He took the blade from Gaara and cut his finger with it. He put his finger in his mouth to suck off the blood.

"Is there any medicine for a wound of the heart?" asked Akki.

"Love. Both of your mothers died when you were born. That's the ultimate form of love. Gaara, I think that my sister's love exists in every grain of sand, and that she loves you so much that she is still protecting you. Akki, I never knew your mother, but I'm sure that it's the same thing with the air. Her love is always around you," smiled Yashamaru.

Gaara took Yashamaru's finger and put it in his mouth. "It tastes like iron."

"Hey Yashamaru," said Akki quietly.

"Yeah Akki, what is it?" he asked.

"I'm going to go be alone for a while," Akki replied. Before she could be told no, Akki disappeared into the air and flowed out of the room.

"Akki," said Gaara worriedly. He was about to follow her, but Yashamaru put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

"Let her be Gaara. She wanted to be alone," said Yashamaru sagely.

"But, we're never alone, not without each other," said Gaara, confused.

"She just found out that the family she had, isn't really blood family at all. It's a lot to take in. She'll be back once she has it all worked out," he explained.

"Yashamaru, can I have some of your medicine?" asked Gaara. "I have an idea."

Akki sat atop the largest building in town. The sun had just set, throwing rays of purple, orange and pink across the sky. Akki stared up at the stars. She had stopped crying for a while and was logically analyzing her situation.

"If the Kazekage adopted me, I am Gaara's sister. As for the twin part, we are the exact same. So I guess it doesn't matter anyway," she muttered to herself. The wind was whistling around, as if it were trying to alleviate her pain.

"But why did Yashamaru tell us that? Father probly never wanted us to know. Unless, unless Yashamaru wanted to hurt us. But why?" Akki murmured to the air.

Turning her face to the wind, Akki opened her eyes wide. Images floated in on the winds from all over town, passing right before her eyes. Finally, she found Gaara. He was sitting on the top of a building across town from hers. Yashamaru suddenly floated in to view. He was strapping something onto his chest and was dressed for combat.

It all hit Akki like a ton of bricks. "The only reason Yashamaru would want us in pain is to get us apart. Without me there, Gaara won't know Yashamaru is going to attack him. I've got to save Gaara!" She evaporated into the air and shot across town as fast as she could.

But she was too late. She arrived just before Yashamaru blew up.

"I hate you Gaara. And you too Akki," whispered Yashamaru painfully. Gaara and Akki were kneeling over him. "My sister's hatred of this village is in every grain of sand. Akki, I don't know your story, and I don't care. Your mother probly died cursing this village with every breath she fought for. You two must use this hatred for destruction." Then Yashamaru blew into a million pieces.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT AKKI!!!!" screamed Gaara through his tears. "LEAVE! I HATE YOU!"

"How is this my fault? Yashamaru hated us-" began Akki, but Gaara cut her off.

"I don't care," said Gaara. His voice quieted. "Leave, or I'll kill you."

"I'll be back Gaara. Don't ever believe I'm gone," threatened Akki. She whistled through the air, out into the desert.

The next day, when Gaara regained control, he realized what he had done to his supposed sister. The kazekage began sending people to kill Gaara after he banished his sister. And Gaara began killing them using sand, but the wind always was there helping him.

Akki lived out in the desert from that day foreword. She learned to control the wind by observing the messenger hawks that frequented the area. Sand still listened to her commands for some reason.

Akki found a man in the desert who taught her the skills of a shinobi. She learned all she could from him until she was more skilled than all the ninja in the Sand Village combined. Then she killed the man, for he had outlived his purpose. Anyone who crossed her path in the desert was killed, but she was not angry like Gaara.

Crappy ending in my opinion, but oh well. It gets better.  
NOTE: Originally I had named the main character Shaara (lame, I know), but then I changed it to Akki. If I missed any and you see someone called 'Shaara', I mean Akki.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter TWO!!!! This story will get better, writing wise anyway, later in the story. Just bear with it. I hope that you like it.

Me no own pretty Naruto sparkly characters. Sad.

2

Many years passed from when Gaara banished Akki to the desert. Akki had changed over that time. She was now a beautiful young woman of fifteen, but she was also a formidable figure. She dressed in a dark red tunic with tan fishnet sleeves and black poofy pants with a tan and red skirt with slits on the sides. On her back she carried two open red metal fans (the fans were normal size, not huge like Temari's), giving her the appearance of having wings. Her long red hair had black and blond streaks and was pulled back into a braid that dragged along the ground.

Akki had her fans out and was practicing what she called her 'Wire Tornado'. She knew the name needed work. The attack itself was interesting. Long thin metal wires connected to the ribs on her fans and by adding chakra, she could make the wire do what ever she wanted.

The young woman stood completely still fifty paces from a huge boulder. Her fans, one in each hand, were closed. Suddenly, Akki snapped them open, releasing the wires. She swiftly waved one of them across her body and the metal wires cut the rock into pieces, like a loaf of bread.

"Impressive," said a female voice from behind Akki. Without turning around, Akki used the wind to tell her who was behind her. A blond girl with four pigtails was there, and she had a huge fan on her back. With her there was a guy with purple face paint; he had a mannequin on his back. There was also a not so special random run of the mill sand shinobi.

"Thank you," whispered Akki, but her words whipped through the air and slashed at the three ninja, who took a step back. _Why on earth father send for me now? I'll pretend to be cruel and heartless for now until I know what they want._ She turned around to face them, set to put her new plan into action. "Temari and Kankuro."

"Oh good, you remember us," said Temari smiling.

"I remember you screaming and running away from myself and _him_," she said venomously, but still quiet. Until she saw Gaara alive, Akki planned on being pissy.

"You mean Gaara? Yeah, sorry 'bout that. We've been sent out here to get you for the Kazekage," said Kankuro shifting his weight nervously.

"What could my father possibly want from me after all this time?" asked Akki monotone. "He left me out here to my own for so long he has no right to ask, plead, or demand my help in any matter."

"He wants you back. Says Gaara's gone crazy and can't be controlled by anyone else," Kankuro explained.

"We thought training him as a ninja would use up some if his built up anger, but it only made him more of a threat. He's now so strong that his power surpasses the Kazekage's. I can't even control him, and I'm his sensei. I'm Baki by the way," said the random sand ninja.

"My own power far surpasses my father's. I can control _him_, and I will. But I will speak to my father first before any arrangements are made," said Akki firmly.

"As you wish, honored daughter," bowed Baki. Temari and Kankuro inclined their heads.

"I haven't been called that for years," Akki mused as they began the walk back to the village. "Now I remember why I hated it."

"Why?" asked Temari, shocked. "It's an acknowledgement of your being the direct family of the Kazekage."

"Because the only ones to call us that were medical ninja, they were the only ones that didn't fear us. Since they didn't fear us, we wanted them to like us. But they only ever saw us as the honored children of the Kazekage. And don't fool yourselves, I know you're his children as well," Akki informed them calmly.

Changing the subject, Temari asked, "Where did you learn to use fans? Who ever taught you was a total genius. Most people just use one large fan, like mine." She flipped it off her back and opened it.

"I taught my self mostly. I had a teacher, but he outlived his usefulness," Akki replied simply. She pulled her fans off her back as well. "I had to forge my own. They are imbedded with my chakra permanently."

"Cool," said Temari. She was about to continue, but Kankuro cut her off.

"The way you used those wires was cool too. Like a puppeteer. Temari may have her big flashy fan, but I'm a puppet master," said Kankuro proudly.

"I'm not too shabby at using a mannequin. I left them in my house in the desert. They're not full mannequins, only a foot tall marionettes. I made them, just like I made my fans," said Akki, smiling.

"Here we are," interrupted Baki. "You may want to get to the Kazekage before Gaara notices you're back."

"Indeed," agreed Akki, almost laughing at the way he pointed out the obvious. She disappeared into the wind. Flowing down the familiar streets brought all the images of the past and present into Akki's mind on the air. She realized how little had changed.

Akki breezed up the stairs and through the hallways of the Kazekage's palace. She followed the increasing number of guards, knowing that at the end would be her father. He had security increased to prevent Gaara from killing him, which was both sad and pathetic.

Akki slipped right between the crack in the doors that led into his chamber of meeting, where he always was. Sure enough, he was there. She materialized.

"Father," Akki said calmly.

"Akki!?!?" he yelled, clutching his heart. He was shocked, afraid, and furious all at the same time. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Gaara," she cringed inwardly at the name, "banished me from his side to the desert. There I remained until you saw fit to summon me. I have been trained in the arts of the ninja and have gained a vast amount of control over my demon. For what task have I been summoned?"

"Gaara has gone crazy, we can't control him. I'm partially to blame for trying to kill him so often," said the Kazekage. "I need you to contain him while he goes to Konoha for the Chounin Exams. Better yet, you can serve lord Orochimaru as well. You will join Gaara's team and when the signal is given, obliterate the Leaf Village."

"I don't even want to know the details. You, father, sicken me. Forging deals with Orochimaru," said Akki shaking her head. "But I will do it, for Gaara's sake."

"Good," the Kazekage replied quite pleased with himself. "The world will soon be right. Gaara is on the roof where Yashamaru died. Find him."

Without answering, Akki disappeared into the air.

She found Gaara almost immediately. With all the sand swirling around, he was hard to miss. He had changed while she was gone. He was taller obviously, but it was more than that. He had lost the innocence he once had, yes, but still something more. She would ponder over it later.

"Brother," Akki said materializing on the roof next to him.

"What are you doing here," he asked monotone, not bothering to look at her.

"I have been asked to detain you from now until the end of the Leaf Village Mission," Akki said boredly.

"Detain me?" he asked, genuinely curious. "Why? What have I done?"

"Killing is apparently wrong now," sighed Akki. "Pity."

"Like you have ever killed," said Gaara. He looked over at Akki and in a different tone said, "You have, haven't you?"

"Yes, several times," she replied. "I killed my own sensei when I could no longer learn from him."

"It seems that even though we've been apart for many years, we're still the exact same. Akki, I'm," he paused.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for sending you away. I'm sorry for blaming you. I'm sorry for hurting you," Gaara said quietly.

"Oh Gaara," she said shaking her head. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a long, much needed hug. Gaara was stunned for a moment, but then hugged her back.

"I need to go out into the desert to get my things, want to come?" she asked. "We have much to catch up on."

"Sure," he replied.

**Gaara POV**

Look, birdies. Damn them to hell with the rest of the world. Wait, those are red hawks. _Her_ favorite. Bless their sweet birdie souls.

"Dear lord I've gotten pathetic," I mumbled to myself. I lied down on the roof on my back to watch the clouds roll past. Like me, they had no real purpose. They simply existed.

"I mean," I continued now talking to the sand, "I'm sitting on the spot where she last stood, trying to will her to come back. Why do I feel for her? I care for nothing else, so why bother with her?"

The sand whirled around a little bit, as though it was trying to answer my question. I looked at it intently, like it held the secrets of the universe or something. I needed some serious help.

"Well of course. She's a part of me," I reasoned. "And I love only myself. And if she is me in some sense, then it's only natural that I worry about her. Or me. Oh, whatever."

The sand swirled a little more, and I pretended that it was asking me a question. Did I know that the sand wasn't a living thing? Yes, but then again I didn't really consider myself a living thing either, so it was ok.

"I can't go get her mom," I explained patiently. "She has no reason to let me within five miles of her. I yelled at her, blamed her for Yashamaru's death, then banished her. And I threatened to kill her. No, getting her is not an option."

I stood back up to watch the red hawks. She used to use the wind to blow them a little faster to help them catch prey. Every other bird she would throw off balance. When I asked her why once, she told me, "Gaara, none of the other birds need help. They're camouflaged. Red hawks are just that: bright red. I like them most of all because their feathers are the same color as your hair."

The sand began to whirl sadly around me. A shift in the wind made me glance ever so slightly to my left. Next to me stood an angel with long red hair streaked with gold and onyx. Her beautiful pale topaz eyes stared right into my soul. She even had wings. She was the single most beautiful being I had ever met and would ever meet. Had I died and not noticed? That seemed like something I would do.

After my initial shock, I began to recognize features in her face. There was no way. It was impossible. But her voice, so different and yet the same clear alto bell, clinched it. "Brother." That was all she needed to say. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to pull Akki into my arms right then.

"What are you doing here," I asked practically monotone. My voice shocked me. It had been so long since I had talked to another person I had almost forgotten how.

"I'm here to detain you until the end of the Leaf Village mission," she said simply. I wanted her to keep talking and to never stop. I couldn't imagine tiring of her voice from then until I died.

"Detain me," I pondered, more to myself than to her, "Why? What have I done?"

"Apparently killing is wrong now," Akki said dryly. "Pity."

The thought of my beautiful angel, my Akki, killing made me both happy and sad. "Like you have ever killed," I said. What I saw in her eyes told me otherwise. "You have, haven't you?"

"Yes, on several occasions," she admitted. Her tone took on an almost sad tone, which broke my heart. "I killed my own sensei when I could no longer learn from him."

This surprised me. I had caused more damage than I thought. "It seems that, though we've been apart for many years, we are still the exact same," I said. "Akki, I'm-" I tried to apologize, to tell her how much I missed her, that I didn't blame her, and most importantly how much I still loved her. But the words wouldn't come.

I tried again. "I'm sorry for sending you away. I'm sorry for blaming you. I'm sorry for hurting you," I said quietly. Great, the heart hurt was even worse now. But I felt better somehow, if that made any sense.

"Oh Gaara," she said. Hearing my name on her lips stirred some part of me that I didn't even know existed. She wrapped her thin arms around my shoulders, her wiry frame pressed against my own. It shocked me. I expected anger. But I hugged her back, tightly. If I had my way, I would have never let her go.

"I have to go out into the desert to get my things," she said into my shoulder. "Do you want to come with me?"

I would have followed her to the ends of the earth and to hell and back if I could just stay in her presence, but she didn't really need to know that. "Sure," I replied lamely.

"You actually lived in this hut?" asked Gaara, stunned. They had made their way out to the shack where Akki lived. Needless to say, it was less than impressive.

"Yeah, why?" asked Akki distractedly. She was looking around the small room for anything she wanted to salvage.

"It's," he paused, searching for the right word, "pathetic. It's so small and unstable. If a storm were to come through here, it would be knocked over instantly. I mean, it's just a bunch of sticks!"

"The wind would never knock my house down. It knows better. And I don't need much space, only a place to sleep and store my things," she said. "I was just waiting until I could return to the village."

"But still, with sand and wind at your command you could have made a palace. It would have at least been safer from bandits," admonished Gaara.

"Ok, that's everything I want out of here," said Akki. She turned around and headed out the door.

"You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?" he asked.

"Not in the least. Watch," she said with a smile. "I've been busy out here, not just loafing around making sand castles."

**Gaara POV**

"You actually lived in this hut," I demanded, fuming. The shack where my Akki, yes MY Akki, had been living was more than pathetic. It was basically a pile of twigs out in the middle of the desert with a blanket stretched over the top for a roof.

"Yeah, why?" she replied distractedly. She was rummaging through the hut for anything of her life for the last ten years that she actually wanted to keep. Most of it was ninja gear.

"It's," I began, trying to be delicate. I gave that up. "pathetic. It's so small and unstable. If a storm were to come through here, it would be knocked over instantly. I mean, it's just a bunch of sticks!"

"The wind would never knock my house down. It knows better. And I don't need much space, only a place to sleep and store my things," she said. "I was just waiting until I could return to the village." Yeah, that alleviated my depression and guilt.

"But still, with sand and wind at your command you could have made a palace. It would have at least been safer from bandits," I admonished. She could have made the castle to go with my warrior princess image of her.

"Ok, that's everything I want out of here," said Akki. She turned around and headed out the door.

"You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?" I asked. Even not paying attention to me she's beautiful. I am the luckiest brother in the world.

"Not in the least. Watch," she said with a smile. "I've been busy out here, not just loafing around making sand castles." Yeah, that's what I did for the last ten years. I made sand castles.

"What are you going to do?"

"Destroy my hut so no one can hide out in it," Akki said simply. She pulled out her fans and opened them. "Wind Cutter!" she said. She twitched her right hand back and forth once, and a blast of air demolished the hut.

"Impressive," said Gaara. _Very impressive. She barely moved, and the hut crumbled. She didn't use practically any chakra either__._

"Do you still use my wind?" asked Akki as they were walking back.

"Only to help move the sand. Why? Do you use my sand?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, all the time. It was helping keep my hut up. Why don't you use the wind more often? It's really useful. Obviously you'll never have as much mastery over the wind as I do, and I'll never be able to control the sand like you, but it's still good to know how to use everything we have. What will you do if there's no sand around?" Akki prattled on. Gaara was only half listening to her though.

_She uses my sand. Why? By all rights she should hate me. I banished her from the city and even though I had no authority she listened to me. To use my sand marks some type of affection, not just for convenience. Why? Akki knows better than to lie to me, she knows my mind better than I do just as I know hers. What is it? I'll have to question her about it later, perhaps in the Leaf Village. For now, I'll just observe her. Not like that, all you perverts out there._

"Can you show me a little how to use the wind?" asked Gaara interrupting her mid-sentence.

"Sure. Take your right hand and put it level with your left shoulder, palm facing out," began Akki. Gaara did as he was told. "Think of the air as a solid object and push it out toward me."

Gaara brought his hand slowly across his body. A ripple of air moved lethargically toward Akki. He did it several more times as they continued walking. "Interesting. If I move my hand faster the wind moves faster and sharper."

"Yep. Well, here we are. Now I just need to find a place to stay," smiled Akki. They had arrived back at the Sand Village and were walking down the street.

"You're staying with me," said Gaara. It was a command and a request at the same time.

"Gaara, I'm a big girl. I can stay by myself and be all right. You don't need to-"

"I want you to. I'm all alone, and I miss you, my dearest sister," he said, shocked by how true his words were. He had felt something missing in the dark hours of the night, but had not been able to identify what it was. Now he knew; it was Akki. Life without his twin sister was just depressing.

"Okay."

That night, Akki and Gaara were sitting in their study playing shogi. It was about eleven at night. The wind was whirling sand around outside the window, making fantastic shapes and sounds.

"I haven't slept for about a month," yawned Akki. "I should probably go to sleep for a few hours at least. I'm sorry Gaara, I know it must boring staying awake forever. Maybe I'll just take a fifteen minute nap."

"Sleep until morning," said Gaara.

"But-"

"I'll be fine. I've been awake for as long as I can remember. It's no big deal," he said calmly.

"All right," relented Akki.

She walked into the bedroom and rather than change like a normal person, she used a hand sign and in a flash she was in her pajamas: a black tank top and red silk pants with thin black stripes. Her long red hair unbraided itself and dragged along the floor like a silken cape.

She crawled under the blankets and snuggled down. There was a lump under the pillow, and upon inspecting it she found her old stuffed animal. It was a little red fox made of wash cloth. She was about to ask Gaara what it was doing here, but she felt something lay down beside her.

"Gaara, what are you doing?" she asked cautiously.

"Lying down," Gaara replied, wrapping his arms around her waist protectively.

"Why?"

"You're too thin. It's not healthy Akki. Tomorrow you're going to eat actual food," he commanded.

Rolling over in his arms to face him, Akki said, "Like you're one to talk. Looks like I'm not the only one being sustained by chakra. You're avoiding the question: Why are you lying down with me?"

"This is how we used to sleep when we were little," he said simply. Akki shook her head, giving up on that question.

"Why did you keep my little Amo? You always hated the little fox," she asked quietly.

"But I love you, and that was reason enough to keep it around. Amo means 'I love'. Very clever," chuckled Gaara. "Besides, I was hoping you'd come back someday."

"You could have come and gotten me."

"I thought you hated me. Why don't you hate me?"

When Akki didn't answer immediately, Gaara started to worry. He had assumed she didn't hate him. Had he been wrong?

Slowly, she finally answered, "I could never hate you Gaara. I wasn't really pleased with you all these years though. Even this morning when Temari and Kankuro came and got me I was angry with you. But when I saw you sitting on the roof, all of my anger dissipated. Seeing you alive and well, maybe not well but at least alive, I realized how much I missed you."

"I don't feel alive anymore," said Gaara quietly. "I stopped feeling at all."

Akki sighed in a sad kind of way. She put a hand on Gaara's cheek and said, "You are alive Gaara. I promise." She stretched up and kissed the symbol on his forehead. "I love you, brother."

Gaara looked puzzled for a moment. _I'll ponder this later as well__._ After a second's hesitation, he kissed the symbol on Akki's temple. "I love you as well, sister."

**Gaara POV**

We were in my house playing shogi in the library. I could see the wind outside the thick glass of my window as it whirled the sand in fantastic patterns. It was a beautiful night for a sandstorm. Then again, I couldn't really think of a bad time for one.

Akki yawned, her canine teeth sticking out, which made her look like a cat. "I haven't slept for about a month," she yawned again. "I should probably go to sleep for a few hours at least. I'm sorry Gaara, I know it must boring staying awake forever. Maybe I'll just take a fifteen minute nap."

"Sleep until morning." Nothing was more important to me than her wellbeing. If she needed sleep, she'd get as much as she needed.

"But-"

"I'll be fine. I've been awake for as long as I can remember. It's no big deal," I said calmly.

"All right," relented Akki. Defeat looked good on her. Then again, most things would look good on her in my mind.

As she walked to my room, a thought entered my mind. Would she mind if I slept with her like we used to? I decided to try.

I walked in silently so as not to alert her to my presence. She looked even more like a goddess lying on my bed (I don't know why I even had one, but back to my narration.) in her red pajamas than when I saw her earlier.

I laid down beside her, trying to make as little movement as possible as I slid under the sheets. "Gaara, what are you doing?" she asked almost frantically.

"Lying down," I replied smirking. I wrapped my arms around her waist protectively and pulled her back against my chest.

"Why?"

"You're too thin," I observed. I wasn't exactly normal weight myself, but her tiny body was practically enveloped by mine. "It's not healthy Akki. Tomorrow you will eat actual food."

Akki suddenly rolled over in my arms to face me. For some odd reason, I liked having her in my arms in a vertical position looking up at me. Akki said, "Like you're one to talk. Looks like I'm not the only one being sustained by chakra. You're avoiding the question: Why are you lying down with me?"

"This is how we slept when we were little," I said simply.

"Why did you keep my little Amo? You always hated the little fox," she asked quietly. So she had found the little thing. Yes, in a moment of weakness I kept all of her things and practically worshipped them. So sue me.

"But I love you, and that was reason enough to keep it around. Amo means I love. Very clever," I chuckled. "Besides, I was hoping you'd come back someday." Hoping wasn't a strong enough word, but it would have to work.

"You could have come and gotten me." Now she tells me.

"I thought you hated me. Why don't you hate me?"

Silence. Normally, I liked it. At that moment though, all I wanted was for words to come out of her mouth and alleviate my fears and doubts.

"I never hated you Gaara," she began slowly. At least she was speaking. "I could never hate you Gaara. I wasn't really pleased with you all these years though. Even this morning when Temari and Kankuro came and got me I was angry with you. But when I saw you sitting on the roof, all of my anger dissipated. Seeing you alive and well, maybe not well but at least alive, I realized how much I missed you."

"I don't feel alive anymore," I said quietly. "I stopped feeling at all."

Akki sighed in a sad kind of way. She put a hand on my cheek and said quietly, "You are alive Gaara. I promise." She stretched up and kissed the symbol on my forehead. "I love you, brother."

That made me feel all fuzzy inside. After a moment of enjoying being loved, I bent down and kissed the identical symbol on her temple. "I love you as well, sister," I murmured.

I watched her as she fell asleep in my arms, the emotions fading off her face as she entered the bliss of dreamland. And I was content, for the first time since she left.


	3. Chapter 3

Another chapter, a few thousand more words, and still no closer to the end of the story than when you began. Filler is so good.

3

After two days travel from Suna through the dry deserts of the Land of Wind, then another two days from the land of fire's border to the vicinity of Konoha, Akki was happy to see the gate of the city. Not that the trip was boring; it was actually very informative.

Temari had a blood trait that allowed her to control the wind, and Akki practically being the wind was able to learn some new fan techniques. Kankuro's puppets Crow and Ant were interesting as well. By watching Kankuro use his puppets, Akki had several brilliant ideas for hers. Gaara also taught her how to control the sand somewhat better.

"Are you here for the exams?" asked a ninja at the gate. A smile played upon his face, like he knew something he shouldn't.

"Yes," answered Baki. "Here are our passports." He handed them over to the ninja, who glanced at them and then at the group.

"You have a five man cell," he said, puzzled.

"No, it's a four man cell. I'm merely an escort," said Baki. "This won't be a problem, will it?"

The ninja deliberated for a moment. "I'm not qualified to make that decision, in all truthfulness. You'll have to talk to the Hokage."

"All right," sighed Baki.

"Take the papers to him and explain it. The genin can go to their room in the compound, its room 704, next to the garden," smiled the ninja.

Without another word, Baki disappeared into the town. Akki, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro walked slowly toward the compound. It was kinda nice not having sand in their eyes at all times. Gaara and Akki were floating along in the air, not actually bothering to walk. As they came around one corner, a little boy knocked into Kankuro.

"Watch where you're going you little punk!" yelled Kankuro. Kankuro didn't really care, but he picked up the little boy by his shirtfront anyway because he was bored. "I could kill you so easily." The kid began squirming, it was kinda funny.

"PUT HIM DOWN YOU JERK!" yelled a spiky haired blond guy. Akki observed him with a combination of interest and amusement. He had a massive amount of chakra, but apparently a small attention span. His blue eyes were very innocent and sincere, but there was an evil presence about him.

"Make me," replied Kankuro confidently. "Make my day."

"You guys aren't from around here obviously. Where are your passports?" asked a pink-haired girl. She appeared to be a know it all. Her physical abilities seemed limited to Akki, as did her chakra.

"We are here legally you know, for the exams," said Temari cockily. She pulled out her passport. Kankuro did as well with his free hand. Akki and Gaara floated toward a tree, still unnoticed.

A rock whizzed through the air from a branch in the tree where Akki and Gaara were floating. They condensed back into human form and hung upside-down on a branch. The rock struck Kankuro on the hand and he actually dropped the little twerp he was holding.

"Leave him alone," said a voice from the tree. It was a boy with black hair and eyes. He looked so cool in his demeanor. His chakra and physical prowess were only slightly above average.

"Sasuke! What are you doing here?" demanded the blond guy.

"Come down here and make me, hot shot," called Kankuro. He pulled his mannequin off his back.

"You're pulling that out to deal with these losers? Kankuro let it go," said Temari, sighing in exasperation.

_Let's stop them before they attract any more attention._ "Kankuro," Gaara said.

All eyes turned to the two of them in the tree. The pink haired girl gasped and stepped back. The blond boy fell over. The little boy ran behind the blond guy and hid. Even the calm cool and collected guy looked a little startled. Akki and Gaara dropped to the ground, both as sand.

"Let's go," Akki ordered calmly.

"Wait," said Kankuro. He looked at the genin and said, "Who are you guys anyway?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" yelled the obnoxious blond boy. He was smiling goofy, as though the name should mean something but sadly didn't.

"I'm Sakura Haruno," said the pink haired girl, still a little startled by Akki and Gaara.

"Sasuke Uchiha," replied the black haired guy. He had regained his calm demeanor. Akki and Gaara began walking away. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kankuro of the Village Hidden in the Sand," he said proudly, putting the puppet on his back again.

"I'm Temari of the Village Hidden in the Sand," she said, trying to be flirtatious, and failing.

"Not you. Them," said the Sasuke Uchiha boy. He was pointing at Gaara and Akki. "The ones with the gourd and two fans."

"I am Gaara of the Desert," replied Gaara in his creepiest voice. He looked back at the boy with his pupil-less green eyes.

Shaara looked back as well with her yellow pupil-less eyes. "I am Akki of the Desert," she said quietly with all the force of a storm.

"Gaara and Akki of the Desert, huh?" said the Uchiha. "I hope to see you in the exams."

As they walked away, Akki heard the blond one, Naruto, say, "Those two were seriously creepy. Were they related or something?"

"I don't know. They both said they were of 'The Desert', so maybe. They did look alike," reasoned the pathetic girl, Sakura.

"Both of them are powerful. I didn't even notice them in that tree, and I was sitting in it. And the way they turned into sand, it might be a blood trait. Just hope that you don't go up against them in the exams," said Sasuke.

Akki and the others were already pretty far from the leaf genin while she listened to the conversation in the wind. She looked at Gaara and smiled.

"They're curious on who we are. Twins with a blood trait is what they are thinking at the moment," Akki laughed.

"Little do they know," said Gaara, the ghost of a cruel smile on his face.

"Look guys, there are actual trees here," said Temari, obvious delight on her face. "Not just little shrubs."

It was true. At least every ten feet in any direction was a tree of some kind. Huge, ancient oaks all the way down to little pine saplings. Because of all the foliage the air smelled clean, alive even. A nice change from sand, sand, and more sand.

"Here we are," declared Kankuro. In front of them was a group of twenty or so apartment complexes, complete with gardens and a swimming pool. A metal chain link fence surrounded all the buildings, and a sign above the archway declared 'Welcome All Shinobi to the Chunin Exams official Housing Area!'

"I'll get us signed in," volunteered Akki. "You guys can go on up to the room."

"Do you think that's a good idea, Akki?" asked Kankuro, trying to make his tone as delicate as possible. Gaara was never happy when Kankuro and Temari questioned his judgement, and Kankuro didn't want to risk angering Akki the same way.

"Yeah Akki. I mean, it might startle some people, you know, having that, well…" paused Temari, trying to avoid the word 'demon'.

"I'll be fine, I promise!" she smiled, walking away before she could be told no. The office wasn't very hard to find. A neon sign proclaimed that it was 'Fast and Easy Sign In'. Akki opened the door quietly, not noticing the small bit of sand that followed her.

"Come on Naruto!" yelled some one that was two people ahead of Akki. "Hurry up!"

"Shut up Shikamaru!" the same blond guy from before yelled back.

"What a drag," the one called Shikamaru muttered. "He does this all the time."

"What's the hold up?" asked Akki. She had figured the Naruto kid didn't have much on the ball.

The guy in front of her turned around to answer. He had brown hair that was pulled back into a hair tie at the bottom, and he had no pupils or irises. "Naruto Uzumaki is a forgetful idiot who does not even deserve the title genin. He's paying his rent, but can not find the money."

"I met him earlier today and he seemed like a bit of a fool," agreed Akki.

"You're not from this village. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Neji Hyuuga," the guy said.

"I am Akki of the Desert. I'm from the Sand Village here for the Chunin Exams," she replied. The name Hyuuga sounded familiar. After a moment of thinking, Akki finally remembered who they were. "Oh! You're a Hyuuga!" she exclaimed, delighted.

"Yes?" he replied, puzzled.

Akki bowed and said, "I have a hobby of perfecting different fighting styles, and the Gentle Fist Style is most intriguing. It took me much practice to learn it."

"You can use Gentle Fist? Impossible, only the Hyuuga clan can see the chakra points. Our Byakugan is the only blood trait that can-," Neji paused, then asked, "How?"

"My inner eye can see what the naked eye cannot. It takes much practice, but truthfully anyone can learn Gentle Fist," she said with a grin at his confusion.

"It is an honor that one as powerful as you took the time to learn our fighting style," he bowed. "I sense that there is much more to you than meets the eye. I hope to meet you in battle at the exams."

A smirk crossed Akki's face. "No, trust me. You don't want that."

"Neji pay attention," said Shikamaru as he walked past. "You're next."

Neji turned to the counter and began speaking with the receptionist. Shikamaru turned to walk on then stopped. He looked at Akki and said, "For the sake of clarity, I'm Shikamaru. You're from the Sand Village huh? It had to be a drag to walk all the way here."

"Not really. I'm Akki of the Desert."

"Cool. Later then," he said as he walked out.

"Yes, good night Ms. Akki. Hopefully we will meet again before the exams," said Neji, who was done at the counter. She smiled in return.

Walking up to the counter she said, "Five from the Sand Village, room 704."

"Thank you. Payment arrived earlier with a messenger hawk. Have a nice stay!" smiled the receptionist warmly.

Akki walked up to her room, happy for some reason she couldn't explain.

Gaara POV

Why would Akki want to go sign us in? She should go back to the room and rest, I know she must be tired or hungry. I should have spoken, but what would I have said? But then Kankuro and Temari would've expected me to keep talking and I'd never hear the end of it. "I'll be fine, I promise!" she smiled and walked off toward the office. Damn her! How am I supposed to keep an eye on her if she doesn't stay where I can see her?

"Sand, follow her," I muttered under my breath. A small amount of sand floated along the ground next to Akki's foot.

I walked up to the room with Temari and Kankuro, but I was watching my Akki and not paying attention to where I was going. Stupid me walked right into the wall. Almost anyway, the sand saved me as usual.

"You ok Gaara?" asked Temari. "You never run into things."

"I don't like being away from Akki," I replied quietly, in the same tone of voice I always spoke to them. We kept walking. Akki was talking to some guy from the Leaf Village and _enjoying_ herself. Blah.

"Gaara, you banished her to the desert for over half a decade. You two were apart for a while," Kankuro pointed out tactlessly.

"Smooth Kankuro," said Temari, hitting him on the back of the head. She expected me to stop talking now. Why should I? I'm slightly distressed.

"I knew where she was. Now I have no control on where she is and who she is talking to," I whispered, to the surprise of the other two. That was the longest speech they had ever heard me make.

"Whoa Gaara," said Temari stunned. "We had no idea."

"Yeah. Wait a minute," said Kankuro as he grabbed my shoulder to stop me. "How can you even stand to be around her? She's so happy and bright and funny… Basically everything that you're not."

"She's the Yang to my Yin, my opposite. Always has been and will be. She's a part of me, like my arm or leg or the sand," I said, shrugging off Kankuro's hand.

Now a different guy was talking to her, and she was still smiling. And then it was back to the first guy who said something that made her give the 'dazzle' smile. MY smile. At least the receptionist was to the point. I wish people would stop smiling at her!

Not GAARA POV

"Hey guys," Akki said as she entered the room after getting them checked in. It was only noon, so they had a few hours to kill until dinner. Temari was on the couch, Kankuro was on the floor, and Gaara was sitting in a corner. "Guess what?"

"There's a sale on ninja wire?" asked Temari hopefully, glancing up from the TV.

"You brought food?" asked Kankuro, not bothering to look up from his book.

A small smile crossed Gaara's face. He asked, "Baki died?"

"No. Before the exams there is a Shinobi dance to greet the different nations, and as the only representatives of the Sand Village we have to go!" she exclaimed happily.

"Ugh," said Kankuro and Gaara with utter disgust.

"YES!" yelled Temari, pumping her fist in triumph. "What's the color?"

"Black or white," Akki said with an impish grin. "Such a versatile color combination."

"So true," agreed Temari.

Kankuro looked like he was going to gag. "We're not seriously going, right? I mean, Baki will freak, the Kazekage doesn't want Gaara seen more than necessary, and I hate dancing."

"I don't want to go," Gaara said simply.

"Come on guys! Smile!" said Akki happily. Then her tone changed entirely. "'Cause I'm not giving you a choice in the matter. Like it, or else," she growled.

"Yes ma'am," stuttered Kankuro.

"Whatever," Gaara muttered.

"Nice," complemented Temari. "I bet the dress shop is still open, Akki want to go window shop?"

"Sure."

Outside the dress shop were several girls. Apparently, every kunoichi in the city wanted to get their dress now. Temari and Akki got in the line and waited to be fitted. This particular shop made whatever dresses you wanted, so the fitting was necessary.

"Hi!" said someone from behind them. Turning around, they saw it was the pink haired girl from that morning, Sakura. "I guess we kinda got off on he wrong foot this morning. Sorry about that."

"It's all right," said Temari. "So you here for a dress too?"

"Yep!" smiled Sakura. "The color is black right?"

"Yeah," replied Shaara. Using her amazing powers of observation along with her memory of this morning, she asked, "You're going to ask the emo guy from this morning to the dance, aren't you?"

Sakura blushed. "You noticed? Yeah I'm going to. But so is every other girl in the city, so I'm pretty much out of luck. Are you going with the guys on you squad?"

"NO!" laughed Temari and Akki.

"They're our brothers," explained Temari. "We're all related. Well, Akki here was adopted, but she was part of the 'family' before Kankuro and me. Kankuro is the one who was yelling at the little boy today."

"YOU"RE ADOPTED?!?!" demanded Sakura. "But you look so much like the guy with the gourd we thought…"

"That we're twins? We are, but from different mothers. It's weird, don't ask," said Akki shaking her head. How to explain something you didn't understand yourself?

"Well if you want to go with some one, most of the guys here are available. Like I said, every girl wants Sasuke. You should find someone to go with," said Sakura. The line still wasn't moving, so they kept talking.

"Temari, I met this guy named Shikamaru today. I think you should go with him," said Akki. It seemed like they would get along fine.

"Why?" asked Temari suspiciously. Getting set up with a guy she didn't know did sound intriguing though.

"Psychologically, he's submissive and you're a dominatrix, to put it bluntly," laughed Akki. The thought of Temari in a skimpy leather outfit in a strip club made Akki double over in laughter.

"Shikamaru is a pretty cool guy. He's wicked smart, even if he is a little lazy," defended Sakura. "But I think Akki is right. You should ask him."

"Fine," sighed Temari. "What about Akki? Any suggestions for her?"

"Let me think," said Sakura. "Hmmm, this is really difficult. Not Naruto, or Choji, or Kiba. Definitely not Shino. Not Rock Lee or Neji. Wow, there really is no one for you Akki!"

Akki anime fell. "That's ok. I'll just go with Gaara. He's the one with the gourd on his back," she said with a smile.

"Whatever Akki," said Temari shaking her head. "We're next anyway, come on."


	4. Chapter 4

Here's the fourth chapter. I meant to update sooner, but I had to mend a prom dress for a friend of mine this week, and time just got away from me. I hope that you all are nejoying this story. I promise the writing and grammar get better. Not so sure about the spelling though =]

4

"We're back!" Temari announced as she and Akki entered the hotel room. Each girl was holding four shopping bags. Three for themselves and one each for Gaara and Kankuro. Who thinks to pack formal stuff for the Chunin Exams?

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?!" screamed Baki. "I come back to find Kankuro asleep, Gaara talking to the sand AGAIN, and you two are completely MIA!" He was practically hyperventilating. It was kinda funny.

"Calm down," said Temari dismissively. "We heard about the dance and went to get dresses and stuff. Oh, and I've got a date so we're going." They ran into Shikamaru on their way back from the dress shop. All it had taken was a slight bit of violent persuasion (cough, seduction) from Temari for the poor lazy Shika to say yes.

"I give up," muttered Baki with a shake of his head. Turning to the female redhead he said, "Akki, congratulations. You are now part of the only four-man squad for the exams. I explained it to the hokage and everything is fine. No shut up everyone, I'm going to sleep." He walked to his room and slammed the door.

"Spoil sport," said Akki sticking out her tongue. Turning to Kankuro and Gaara she squealed, "We got you some stuff too! "

"When is this thing anyway?" demanded Kankuro as he crossed his arms. He eyed the bags dubiously.

"Friday night!" said Akki happily. She placed her bags down gently on the sofa. "Tomorrow evening!"

"Goddamnit," he muttered. "Fine. Hand me the stupid tux, I'll go put it on." He grabbed a bag from Temari and stormed off into his room to change.

"No," Gaara growled when they went to hand him his bag. "I'm not going."  
"But if you don't go, I'll have to go with Kankuro," whined Akki. In a different, more contemplative tone she added, "Then again, maybe I could go with this Neji Hyuuga guy I met this morning."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "Fine." He took the bag and made a wall of sand to change behind. The sand went back into his gourd and revealed… A smexy Gaara in black pants, black dress shirt, and his hair slightly rumpled.

"Whoa Gaara," Temari gaped, stunned. "You look… hott."

"Shut up," he snapped. He shot her a glare, which was ignored.

Kankuro walked out in his clothes and was about to start complaining. Then he saw Gaara. Speechless doesn't even begin to describe how Kankuro felt. "Knew this was a bad idea," he finally managed.

"What do you mean? Gaara looks great," said Akki defensively.

"Exactly. He looks better than I do," sighed Kankuro, shaking his head. "What has the world come to?" He walked back to his room feigning rejection.

"Oooh," called Temari jokingly, "Kankuro is jealous of Gaara!"

"Aren't you two going to try yours on?" asked Gaara, who had already changed back.

"Nope, you'll just have to wait to see them like everyone else," said Akki, sticking out her tongue.

"I have the weirdest sisters EVER," muttered Gaara.

Finally, the time for the dance came. Temari and Akki had been getting ready since that morning, washing their hair, doing their make up, and finally getting in their dresses to accessorize.

"Come on girls!" yelled Kankuro from the living room. "You're the only ones who wanted to go to this thing, and you're making us late!"

"Coming!" they called down the hall. The sisters had decided to make it kind of a presentation to show off their dresses. Temari came first. She was wearing a long black dress with a slit up to her navel on the left side and a pair of black boots that went up to her mid-calf.

"MY EYES!" yelled Kankuro, throwing his hands up to his eyes and pretending to die. "Kidding Temari. You actually don't look too bad."

"Personally, I think you look like a slut," Gaara interjected, trying to hide a smile.

"If you think I look bad, wait 'til you see Akki," said Temari, sticking out her tongue. "Come on out Akki!"

Akki walked down the hall and silence overtook the room. She was wearing only a skimpy black corset and a black micro-mini skirt. Black leather stiletto boots went up to her mid-thigh and black lace gloves that came all the way up to her elbows. Her entire midriff was exposed. Her long red hair cascaded down her back. A red rose was pinned at the top of the corset accentuating her cleavage, and another was on a tight black choker around her neck. The whole thing screamed 'STRIPPER'.

"Akki?" asked Kankuro, finally regaining his voice. Try as he might, he could not stop staring.

Gaara couldn't stop staring either. He had flushed almost as red as his hair, and his mouth was slightly open.

"YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE IN THAT!!!" yelled Kankuro. "As your older brother, I will allow it. Temari, Gaara, back me up here."

Temari snorted so as to say, 'As if.' "I think it looks good. You're overreacting Kankuro. What's the harm in her outfit?"

"SHE LOOKS LIKE A STRIPPER!"

"She looks fine Kankuro. If you've got it, flaunt it. And Akki's DEFINITELY got it."

"Shut up you two," Gaara finally snapped. He didn't have a problem with it, but then again, he wasn't exactly thinking as a 'brother' at that moment.

"What do you think Gaara?" asked Temari. "You think she looks good, right?"

What he wanted to say, which was something along the lines of 'I want that to pop out of my birthday cake next year', didn't seem entirely appropriate in present company. So he settled on, "She looks great."

"Am I all alone?" whimpered Kankuro pathetically. Realizing he was outnumbered, Kankuro bowed his head in defeat. "Fine, whatever. She can go."

"Like you would have been able to stop me," Akki said winking at him as they walked out the door.

Short Gaara POV

What did she mean 'Wait 'til you see Akki?' I wondered. The soft padding of heels on carpet interrupted my thoughts. I looked up expecting to see Akki in a long dress like Temari's. Man was I wrong.

My Akki had transformed into a goddess again. A tight black leather corset, which covered less than it showed, stood out against her pale skin and merely made the fact that Akki had ample bosom even more apparent. A tiny black leather skirt, small even by micro-mini standards, showed off her long legs. All that, accompanied by the black stiletto boots she was wearing that went up to her mid-thigh, made her look more like a fallen angel sent just for me than my 'twin'. But there was even more. Black lace gloves went up to her elbows. A red rose was pinned expertly to accentuate her cleavage, and another one was on a tight broad black choker above the hollow of her throat. My favorite part though was her hair. It was let loose to drag behind her like a cape of blood.

Morbid? Maybe. But who was I to care? She was all dressed up to go to a dance, and I was the lucky man getting to be her escort.

NOT GAARA POV

"Hurry up guys!" Akki called behind her. Temari had gone to meet Shikamaru already, so it was just Gaara, Kankuro, and Akki.

"HEY! AKKI!" yelled Sakura from up ahead. She was walking with Naruto and Sasuke.

"Hey Sakura," she replied, catching up with them. When Naruto and Sasuke saw her, they started to drool. Gaara and Kankuro weren't far behind her; not that they bore any love toward the others, but Akki was their…friend? Sister? They were protective of her, that's all they knew.

"YOU'RE THOSE WEIRDOS FROM YESTERDAY!" yelled Naruto, pointing at Akki and Gaara.

"Brilliant Naruto," Sakura retorted sarcastically, hitting him on the head. "This is Akki and her brothers Gaara and Kankuro. Be nice."

"I assume this is the squad that you're on?" asked Akki as they kept walking.

"Yep. Our sensei is late, as usual. Nice dress by the way. But I thought you said you wanted something classic that DIDN'T scream stripper," Sakura said playfully.

"I did," sighed Akki. "But sadly all they had left in black was leather and lace. So I thought, why not?"

"It looks good on you," Sakura complemented with a sincere smile. "Where's Temari?" she asked puzzled, noticing for the first time that the older blonde wasn't there.

"Met up with Shikamaru already," Shaara replied, an evil grin on her face.

"So they are going together?"

"Yep."

"Did we miss something here?" asked Sasuke calmly. Naruto bobbed his head in agreement. "When did you all get buddy buddy, and what possessed Shikamaru to do something like go to this stupid dance? It's way to 'bothersome' for him."

"I saw Akki and Temari at the dress shop yesterday, and since they're all brother and sister on their squad, I suggested Temari ask Shikamaru to the dance. And Akki had already met him and Neji in the compound lobby, so it seemed kinda convenient," explained Sakura. Shaking her head she continued, "Honestly, you two really need to keep up. Shikamaru IS lazy. Far too lazy to argue with a pretty girl holding a ginormous fan."

"Poor Shika," laughed Naruto. Up ahead of them was a female figure in a blue and black dress. "Hey, there's Hinata! Later guys!" He ran up to greet the shy girl.

"Hinata," mumbled Shaara, thinking hard. "She's the heir to the Hyuga clan, right?"

"How do you know all this?" asked Sakura, amazed.

"I've lived in the desert, literally, for the last ten or so years. The winds pick up all kinds of interesting things. I knew when the Uchiha clan was slaughtered," Sasuke tensed, but no one noticed, "when the hokage's grandson was born, even when some idiot defaced the hokage monuments," she listed. The wind carried information to her from far and wide. Akki never thought that she would actually meet the people she heard about.

"That was Naruto," laughed Sakura. "Look, here we are!"

"Ah, there you are," said a voice from behind them. Every one turned around and to their surprise it was the Hokage himself, along with Kakashi.

"Lord hokage," said Sakura startled.

"Hello Sakura, Sasuke," he smiled. Looking at Akki, Gaara, and Kankuro he said, "You must be the Sand Village shinobi. It's very unusual for there to be four members in a squad, excluding their sensei."

"We are sorry for the inconvenience-" began Akki with her head bowed, but the Hokage interjected before she could finish.

"It's not a problem, just unusual. Though I guess not, considering who you are," he said with a strange look in his eyes.

Naruto and Temari appeared out of nowhere. "Who are they? What's so special 'bout them?" asked Naruto with his usual tact.

"They are the Kazekage's own children." Inserts dramatic pause. "The twins are Akki and Gaara of the Desert," the hokage said pointing to them. "Kankuro the Puppet Master," he pointed to Kankuro, "And Temari who is an extraordinary strategist."

"YOU ARE THE KAZEKAGE'S OWN KIDS?!?!" demanded Naruto.

"Cat's out of the bag now," muttered Temari. "Yeah, but we weren't raised together. Gaara and Akki's mother isn't Kankuro's or mine. We're only paternally related."

"Honored Children of the Kazekage," said Kakashi, nodding at them. To team 7 he ordered "Come on guys. We have to go get arranged in a line for the entrance thingy."

"I love your technical terminology Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto sarcastically. They leaf genin walked away, following Kakashi as he made some half-assed excuse as to why he was late.

"We're last in the line, so we've got some time to kill," Temari informed them. "How come you all get titles and I'm 'an extraordinary strategist'?" she blurted suddenly. "I mean, Akki and Gaara can make sand castles and Kankuro is a boy who's allowed to play with dolls. So what? Why don't I get a title?"

"They're not dolls, they're deadly puppets of doom with advanced weaponry! At least call them action figures, not dolls!" exploded Kankuro.

"Sand coffin," said Gaara shortly. It was an explanation and a threat all in one!

"I lived in the desert for ten years on my chakra alone," Akki said with a simple shrug of her shoulders.

"Forget I asked," muttered Temari.

Something on the wind suddenly floated past Akki's ear. "She'll be here. The one with that wind demon, she never strays far from the one sealed with Shukaku. And then it will probably take all fifty of us to take 'em out."

"Are we taking them both out? Tonight after the dance?" another voice asked timidly. Akki could tell he was scared. "I mean, one is bad enough."

"No, the kazekage only wants her killed. Something about that driving the other one insane and destroying everything," the first voice said.

"Well, this isn't good," said Akki, her heart beating so fast it felt like she would explode. She swayed a little on her feet. Gaara reached out caught her before she could fall.

"What is it Akki?" asked Temari, reaching her hand up to feel Akki's forehead for a fever.

"Are you ok? You look even paler than usual," said Kankuro, worry saturating his voice.

Gaara simply glared at her. "You were wind listening again, weren't you?" She nodded weakly. "I've told you before-"

"The kazekage has sent a group of shinobi to kill me," she said quietly.

Finally, a plot in sight...


	5. Chapter 5

WARNING: ACTUAL PLOT in this chapter. My stories have very little in the way of what I call mini plots, but here we ctually have one that makes sense. I hope that you like it.

5

"The Kazekage has sent a group of shinobi to kill me," Akki whispered, cutting him off. Gaara's mouth closed with a snap. His face turned stone cold as his sand ever present sand coiled angrily around their feet.

"What?" Temari demanded, not believing what she heard. "Why?"

"You're here to keep Gaara under control, why kill you?" Kankuro pondered aloud, confused.

Akki swallowed hard. She didn't fear for herself, but for Gaara. If he got too angry he would turn into his demon form, then countless people would get hurt. That was most likely what the Kazekage wanted. But Akki wasn't even too worried about that. If, and it was a BIG if, if they did kill her Gaara would be all alone again. "He wants Gaara angry enough to destroy all of the Leaf Village. He thinks killing me will cause that."

Temari swore. "When?" she demanded.

"Tonight, after the dance."  
She swore again. "How many?"

"At least fifty."

Now Kankuro cursed. "We can't stop that many shinobi, and knowing the dear old dad, he sent the best."

"We can ask for help though," Temari suggested unwillingly. "But not from the hokage. This is a conflict within the Sand Village, and for him to help could be considered an act of war."

"The genin!" exclaimed Akki, rapidly cementing a brilliant plan.

"You've lost us Akki," Kankuro snapped angrily. He was pacing back and forth, cursing the fact that they had only brought a few hidden kunai to the dance.

"The leaf genin. To ask them for help wouldn't endanger this village because they're of such a low rank that it doesn't matter politically if they help or not," explained Akki. Her brain was starting to go into overdrive now as she thought of how many they could gather.

"I like the way you think," said Kankuro approvingly. "When do we ask them?"

"Better idea," Temari interjected quickly. "Don't ask them. Use the genin to create a diversion so that when the Sand are distracted, Akki and Gaara scare them back to the Sand."

"Nice," commented Akki. "That way there's little to no possibility for any casualties."

"But how to use them on that type of scale," muttered Kankuro. He was pacing again, still thinking.

"Our puppets!" exclaimed Akki for the second time. "You use crow and black ant to make them think they're being chased by ghosts. I'll use Harlequin and the Court Jester. We'll induce mass hysteria. The sand ninja are in the forest next to a lake, we'll just lead the genin there."

"I don't see any flaws in this plan," said Kankuro and Temari nodded in agreement. "Everyone understand? Akki and I will panic the leaf, then Gaara, Temari, and Akki can use their long range attacks to scare them off."

"Sand Shinobi, get over here!" yelled a ninja from the door. "You're missing your entrance!"

The dance had been going for about forty-five minutes, but only the visiting nations were dancing. Other than the Sand, that is. Akki, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Temari, and Tenten were all in the back corner of the room, talking. Naruto, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Kiba, Neji, Lee, Shino, Choji, and Gaara were in a different corner complaining. Kankuro had fallen asleep with the guys.

"This has gotten kinda boring," said Ino with a yawn. Looking at Sakura she asked, "We should go beg Sasuke to dance with us. Why haven't we done that yet?"

"We decided not to make asses of ourselves," Sakura reminded her, sighing.

"N-naruto doesn't like to dance," whispered Hinata, almost inaudible from all the music.

"Neji would probably give me some Zen philosophical crap answer on why he can't dance just so he doesn't have to make a fool of himself," grumbled Tenten. She shot a glare in her date's direction.

"Apparently, dancing is too 'bothersome' for Shikamaru," said Temari with a snort, using air quotes around the word bothersome.

"Can anyone here really see Gaara dancing?" Akki asked with a laugh, only half jokingly. The other girls giggled at this, and then they all sighed unanimously.

"You know," Tenten said suddenly. "There are other guys here than the ones we came with."

"True," said Akki, catching on. "And wouldn't it be sad for their egos if we started dancing with someone else?" The girls grinned, even Hinata.

"Tenten you get Lee. Hinata gets Shino. Sakura, go for Shikamaru. Ino get Kiba. Akki, Neji or Sasuke, maybe both. I'll take Choji," ordered Temari. They nodded. "Go."

One at a time, the girls sporadically went over to the guys and asked for a dance. Tenten went first, then Temari. Ino went next and she didn't even ask, she just grabbed Kiba and pulled him onto the dance floor. Sakura and Hinata went at the same time. Akki took Sasuke, knowing he would bother Gaara more.

**_Gaara POV_**

"What is she doing," I muttered. At first I thought she was going to force me to dance, but then she grabbed that stupid Uchiha.

Kankuro straightened up from the wall he had fallen asleep on. His eyes finally adjusted, and he saw Akki and Temari. "Why are my baby sisters dancing with losers?" Stupid, oblivious Kankuro.

"I don't like this," Neji said quietly. No shit. "Why is Tenten with Lee?"

"Why is Hinata dancing with that freaky bug guy Shino!?!" demanded Naruto. Good question. What were these girls doing?

"True, I'd rather her dance with even you, Naruto, than the bug kid," said Neji dryly. "Now if you'd all excuse me, I'm reclaiming my date." He practically threw Lee out of his way to dance with Tenten. I kinda liked his style, so long as he wasn't around Akki.

"Right behind you," said Naruto, walking briskly over to Hinata. Shino let Naruto cut in, and Hinata looked quite pleased.

"Dude," said Kankuro sleepily. "Go get her. You know you want to."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Akki," he yawned. "I know you love her. More than like a big bro. Look at her, she's almost enjoying herself. Everyone else reclaimed their dates already but you. Stomp the emo bastard out of the way." Is it that obvious that I love her, or is Kankuro drunk?

I looked around the room. What Kankuro said was true. Naruto was with Hinata, and they were just in a far corner swaying. Tenten was teaching Neji how to dance. Temari and Shikamaru had disappeared entirely, ew. Ino had hooked up with Kiba for good it seemed, and they were enjoying themselves. Lee had completely monopolized Sakura. Akki was the only one left with her temporary man, Sasuke.

Suddenly the music shifted from nice old stuff to contemporary. And as such, the girls automatically changed their dancing. It went from nice and slow to, well, you get the point: slutty grinding crotch flailing displays. The guys were a little slower to react, but they caught on. Much to my dismay so did Akki's man.

Which was all the invitation I needed, apparently. Before I realized where I was heading, my feet were carrying me across the floor. "You go get her Gaara. Gaara…" mumbled Kankuro as he fell asleep again. Loser, yes. But his advice wasn't half-bad.

**_NOT GAARA POV_**

"Why did you ask me to dance?" asked Sasuke. The first song had just ended.

"Truthfully? So Gaara would flip out and his ego would force him to dance with me," she smiled ruefully. "I guess this makes you a rebound of some sort."

"I don't mind," he replied truthfully.

"Really?"

"Truthfully, if Gaara doesn't want you, I'll take you," Sasuke replied mischievously. He pulled her a little closer.

Akki laughed. It had been a while since she had been flirted with, and she remembered why she liked it so much. She herself wasn't talented at it, but who cares?

"You're of the Uchiha clan?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied shortly. "Don't ask about the massacre."

"Calm down," Akki tutted. "It was your clan that invented the fireball jutsu. THAT'S what I was going to ask about."

"Oh," he said eloquently, taken aback. "Most people don't know that."

"I'm not most people," she whispered with a smirk. Sasuke smirked back.

They danced for a little while longer, and Akki found that she was actually enjoying herself. She had a preconceived notion of how this guy would be, and she had been pleasantly surprised to be completely wrong. Sure he was handsome and cool like Sakura and Ino had said, but there was so much more to him than that.

Akki noticed that the other girls had switched partners already. Temari and Shikamaru were nowhere to be found, at least not in the room. Akki summoned up a breeze from outside to look for them. Sure enough, they were outside, in a large mimosa tree, making out among other things.

"Did you just use some chakra?" asked Sasuke.

"Yeah. The short version is this: I use the wind to see and hear things. I was looking for my sister," she explained. Akki loved her ability more than anything else in the world, but she knew that others saw it only as weird or profitable.

"Is that a blood trait?" he asked, genuinely curious. Sasuke Uchiha wasn't one of those people.

"Not really. It's just something I can do. Temari's wind powers are a blood trait though. Like we said, we're only paternally related, so I don't have one."

Before Sasuke could reply, the music changed completely. "Do you want to keep dancing or-?" asked Sasuke, cocking an eyebrow.

"Not with you she's not," said Gaara, appearing out of thin air next to Sasuke. His expression could only be read as 'Death Glare'.

"Okay then," smiled Sasuke with fake sweetness. "You and your _brother_ have fun." He kissed Akki on the cheek. "Later Akki," he called back as he sauntered away.

"You all did that on purpose," Gaara said as they started dancing. "Dancing with other guys so that your dates would get jealous."

"And it even worked on you," she whispered in his ear like a little girl sharing a secret.

"Yes, it did."

That stunned Akki into silence for a few moments. "Guess where Temari is," she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Where," Gaara asked reluctantly.

"Outside with _Shikamaru_," Akki snickered. "Picture it."

"Way too much information," he said, sighing. "Like I said. I have the weirdest sister ever."

"When did it change to singular? Sister and not sisters?"

_**CHEESY FLIRTING ALERT!**_

"When you walked down the hall in **that**," he gestured at her outfit. Leaning down to whisper in her ear he said, "I lied. You don't look good in that. You look hotter than hell, and if I had my way I'd be the only person to see you in it."

Akki flushed in pleasure. "Well Gaara," she began. "That could be arranged." His eyes flashed mischievously.

The dance finally ended, and every one dispersed in different directions. Akki noted the directions in which the nine leaf genin went so that she and Kankuro could find them and chase them.

"Every one got the plan? Good," said Temari. "Because I'm not explaining it again. Get in place."

The siblings took off into the forest and got into position near the lake. Akki pulled out two scrolls from her bag. She rolled them out onto the ground and whispered, "Harlequin, Court Jester." Two very small marionettes appeared in a cloud of smoke.

The first was a female with long black hair and a sardonic expression. White paint covered her face and around her eyes was black paint, so as to make a mime mask. She wore a little frilly black and red harlequin pattern dress, and a black and red jester's hat was on her head. She didn't look very threatening.

Neither did the other puppet, the Court Jester. He was in black and tan stereotypical court jester's clothing, matching hat and all. A painted smile and mask on his face made him look like something from a five-year-old child's nightmare.

"Those are your puppets?" said Kankuro with a condescending chuckle. He pulled out his own scroll and said, "Crow." In a puff of smoke Crow appeared. "This is a puppet."

In response, Akki flexed her fingers experimentally. It had been a while since she had used her puppets, but they responded as they should have. Harlequin bowed like a ballerina and the Court Jester performed a back flip.

"Really Kankuro," she chided. A short walk up the trunk of a tree and they were in position. Akki flicked her fingers in a series of movements and The Court Jester pulled out a flute and began to play a happy tune, like a carnival song and a lullaby combined. Harlequin danced to the music like a ballerina. "Off my dears," Akki whispered, "To Sakura with Naruto and Sasuke in tow. Bring Hinata and Shino with Kiba also."

Kankuro shivered. The music and dancing didn't affect him as much because he wasn't its target, but he realized what it was doing. "Remind me never to get on your bad side. Using genjutsu through puppets is wicked."

Akki flashed a smile. "And that's not even their primary function."

"Then what is?"

"Assassination," she replied casually.

Kankuro and Akki sat up in the tree for about fifteen minutes working their puppets without talking. Finally, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke came into the clearing and began to spin around, oblivious and disoriented. Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru, and Shino came a few moments later. They were all still in what they had worn to the dance.

They all were dancing around and falling and such for a few minutes until screaming interrupted their dance, breaking the genjutsu. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji came running into the clearing yelling at the top of their lungs in terror.

"RUN!" Ino screeched. She was trying to slide out of Choji's grasp; the large boy had grabbed onto her arm and had no intention of letting go.

"GHOSTS!" yelled Choji, panting to catch his breath and using Ino to hold himself upright.

"What are we doing here?" asked Sakura. She looked around trying to get her bearings. "We're almost at the lake."

"And what was that music?" demanded Kiba. Akamaru yipped in agreement from his hiding place in the front of Kiba's shirt.

"It was genjutsu, the strong kind," Sasuke replied, looking around the clearing cautiously.

Shikamaru sat on the ground to think, and by think I mean sleep. "Shik, what the hell are you doing?" demanded Naruto. "First we're brought here by clown puppets using genjutsu, then you all are chased by ghosts, and you're taking a nap!"

"Cut it out Naruto," Shino ordered calmly. "There are no ghosts."

"Wait," interrupted Sasuke. "Naruto what clowns?"

"THOSE!" yelled Naruto, pointing to Harlequin and the Court Jester who were slightly off to the side of the clearing.

"Those aren't clowns," said Sakura, backing up.

"That's the source of the genjutsu," Sasuke continued.

"RUN!" Ino screeched, pointing to the opposite end of the clearing. Crow flew in, clicking maniacally and waving his arms.

The nine genin ran to the lake, just as they were supposed to, making noise and screaming and falling over each other. Akki and Kankuro jumped through the trees back to Gaara and Temari.

"What did you do to them?" asked Temari. "Never mind, tell me later. Akki, you and Gaara go run across the lake and scare the Sand Shinobi a little more. Then I'll blow them away."

Akki and Gaara ran across the water. Two of the ninja dropped from the trees and stood across the lake from them. The rest dropped as well, but they stayed back under the tree line. They dared not to walk out on the lake any closer to the two Jinchuuriki than they had to.

"How good of you to come to us, Akki of the Desert," sneered one of the Sand ninja. "Sadly, only one of you will be leaving. Gaara, be a good little son of the Kazekage and go back to the Leaf Village. Baki must be terribly worried."

Gaara was livid, to say the least. Sand poured out from his gourd and wrapped itself around the Sand Shinobi, who was still talking as though they were hanging on his every word. "Sand Coffin," Gaara growled quietly. The man screamed, then was no more.

"Anyone else?" asked Gaara menacingly. Sand crept toward them.

Before they could answer, a huge gust of wind sent all the Sand Ninja crashing through the trees, cutting off their appendages as the went.

"Took Temari long enough," muttered Gaara. Turning to leave, he grabbed Akki's hand and squeezed it. "You're safe now Akki."

"Thanks, but there was really no need to kill that one guy," Akki pointed out as they walked back across the water, swinging hands like little kids.

"He was pissing me off."

Akki smiled a little at the bluntness of the statement. "Temari never came to the rescue by the way. I think she fell asleep. I kinda forgot to stop the genjutsu. So, I cut those Sand ninja up, not her."

Gaara stopped dead in his tracks. He looked over at Akki, his expression changing from disapproval to incredulity and stopping at a mixture of pride, happiness, and still a slight bit of disapproval. "You killed forty-nine Sand ninja at one time with one attack?" his voice held a certain amount of awe.

"Yeah," she answered cautiously, "I told you I've killed before."

"I didn't really believe you then," he said simply. They continued walking for a time still hand in hand, then Gaara said, "I think I'm happy."

Akki laughed. "Me killing forty-nine ninjas makes you happy?"

Gaara smiled and laughed without cynicism for the first time since he was six. "This feels weird, this happiness. You said that Kankuro and Temari fell asleep in that tree?" Akki nodded. "And are the Leaf genin gone?" She nodded again. "Let's go back to the room."


	6. Chapter 6

I don't like this chapter as much as the others, mostly because it moves the story along and provides nothing else. I don't like how the entire story is written, but I'm too lazy to go back and change it. I hope that you all like it though, and a super dee duper thanks to the couple of people who commented it.

6

"Gaara, are you sure you want to sleep?" Akki asked, doubt apparent in her tone. They had gotten back to their room in the complex before midnight somehow. Kankuro and Temari were still out in the forest asleep. Baki was nowhere to be found, so that meant he was probably out drunk somewhere. Given those circumstances, Gaara had thought it was as good a time as any to try something he had wanted to do for many years: sleep.

"I think I'll be okay," he said with confidence he didn't actually feel. "I've never tried it. You seem to like it, and that's good enough for me."

"All right Gaara, if you want to try it go ahead. Where do you want to sleep?" Akki sighed defeatedly. Sometimes there was no arguing with Gaara. This was one of them.

"On the couch, I suppose."

"Okay. You stay here and I'll go get my blanket and pillow for you," she said. Akki padded softly down the hall to her room. As she was about to change into her pajamas a thought occurred to her. "Hey Gaara," she called. Turning around to walk back to the living room and walked right into Gaara.

"Careful," he said catching her so she wouldn't fall. "What?"

"Do you have pajamas?" she asked, still in Gaara's arms. And enjoying too, for that matter. He was still wearing the clothes from the dance, and she was in her corset.

"No," he said simply. Then, in a slight panic he asked, "Is that a requirement for sleeping?"

Akki laughed at the obvious innocence in his voice. "No Gaara, it's not a requirement. They're just more comfortable than regular clothes. You can borrow a pair of mine, if you'd like," she offered. "I know they're girls, but-"

"I wouldn't know the difference."

Akki nodded and reluctantly stepped out of Gaara's embrace. She pulled a red tank top and a pair of black sweat pants out of her closet and handed them to him. "I'll wait out on the couch."

"I feel stupid," Gaara announced as he walked out into the living room. Akki was sitting on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chin. She had changed out in the living room into a black tank top and red silk pants.

"I think you look dashing," she deadpanned.

Gaara walked over and sat on the couch next to her. "What's wrong?" he asked. When Akki didn't answer he continued quietly, "I know something is wrong Akki, you can't fool me."

Akki sighed. "According to what I've heard in the wind," she began with a half smile, "when a person sealed with Shukaku sleeps, the demon can come out in its truest form. I'm worried about that."

"I'll be fine," he promised. Gaara pulled Akki into his lap. "I have a theory. Would you like to hear it?"

Akki nodded and tucked her head under Gaara's chin. She felt warm and safe in his embrace, something she had rarely felt before.

"If I go to sleep with you in my arms, your demon should react with mine and keep it in check since you can control the sand too. It's merely a theory, but it may work and the only way to prove it is to try it," he explained. He sounded proud of himself.

"We can try it," she mumbled against his shirt. A wave of tiredness suddenly washed over her and she yawned.

"One question before you fall asleep," he whispered. "Make that two."

"What," she mumbled sleepily.

"How am I suppose to fall asleep?"

"Close your eyes and let you mind wander. What else?"

"If my theory is wrong," Gaara paused, almost unable to continue. It was a horrid thought, but it had to be said. "If my theory is wrong and I turn into my demon form, and you get hurt, will you be so mad at me that you go back to the desert?"

This woke Akki up slightly. She sat up in his lap until she was eye level with him. "I could never be that mad at you Gaara. I love you, I truly do." Gaara looked dubious to say the least. "I'll prove it to you."

Akki slowly brought her mouth to Gaara's. He jerked back in surprise, then kissed her back sweetly.

They finally broke apart. "I don't think that's going to help me sleep," remarked Gaara. He was actually stunned, but was trying to hide it.

Akki laughed, feeling giddy. "True."

They lied down together on the couch and fell asleep in each other's embrace.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?!?!" Baki demanded, his voice penetrating the thick haze of the two teenagers' sleep.

"What's what?" mumbled Akki, snuggling closer to Gaara's warmth, reluctant to wake. Gaara looked disoriented and half-conscious.

Baki looked as though he had swallowed a bottle of vinegar. "What's wrong she asks. Maybe it's the fact that the first thing I see when I walk into the room is you two asleep on the couch completely fused together!" he shouted, then turned his attention to Gaara. "And you shouldn't be sleeping at all! If the Shukaku were to come out-"

Gaara had finally woken up a bit more and realized that Baki was yelling at him. "Shut up," he mumbled. Thrusting his arm lazily up in the air, some sand came and shoved Baki into his room. The sand then proceeded to block the door, preventing Baki from getting out. "Much better."

"Was sleep as fun as you thought?" asked Akki, fully awake after all of Baki's shouting.

"Mmhhm," he replied. His eyes were closed and he looked adorable, like a little kitten that didn't want to get up.

Akki reached up and ruffled his hair. "Time to get up." She stood and walked into her room to change.

In her room, she locked the door behind her. Gaara had this bad habit of appearing silently out of nowhere and she didn't want that happening while she changed. Akki was about to pull her shirt off when a cough from her bed made her look around. There sat Temari on the edge of her bed, looking full of righteous anger.

"Oh, Temari," Akki said sheepishly. Temari glared at her. "How did you sleep?"

Temari snapped to her feet. "That Konoha bug brat sent insects to put me and Kankuro to sleep. We finally woke up and came home, not knowing if you and Gaara were even alive. I walk through the door and find you two asleep on the sofa, looking completely happy. What went wrong when you two were born? 'Cause you both seem to be missing part of your brain," Temari demanded, pacing as she talked.

"Gaara wanted to try sleeping," Akki defended wimpily. She walked into the closet and began to change as Temari lectured her about something or another.

"Are you even listening to me?" Temari finally demanded, her hands on her hips.

"No, not particularly. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Chunin Exam to go take," said Akki. She ducked out of the room quickly and closed the door just as Temari threw a shoe at her.

"Welcome to the Chunin Exams!" said the big guy in the front of the classroom. He looked as though he would be more at home in the practical portion of the exam than the written, but that was merely Akki's opinion. "Your first exam is written. You have one hour, and you may only get one question wrong. At the end of the exam, you will be asked one oral question that if you get correct, will cancel out any other wrong question."

Akki glanced around the room. The other genin's expressions ranged from confidence to fear to boredom. She also noticed that no one was sitting next to a team member, and few were sitting next to some one from the same village.

"If any one is caught cheating, him and his whole team will be disqualified. Oh, and if a team doesn't have everyone pass, they are disqualified too. Begin," finished the large guy with a scar.

Akki looked down at her test. _I don't know any of these,_ she thought. _Oh well. Time to cheat._ She sent a bit of air around the room to gather the answers from people like Sakura and Neji, who were the least likely to be wrong. Akki had her test filled out before anyone else on her team.

After the hour had passed, two people had been caught cheating and their teams led out of the room. Several more walked out because they thought it was too hard. "Here is the final question: If it meant the difference between the mission and the life of a teammate, which would you choose?"

Silence reigned for several minutes. "Those of you who do not wish to answer, simply raise your hand and walk out now," the instructor said.

Naruto hesitantly raised his hand halfway. "Is that hand up or down, kid?" asked the instructor. Naruto deliberated for a moment, then slammed his hand back onto the desk. He proceeded to give a speech, but Akki wasn't paying attention. She was thinking.

_He knew he hadn't done well, but he still stuck it out so that he wouldn't disappoint his friends. That takes courage. I think that this Naruto has impressed me. How odd for me to find myself liking him. He's a good person, through and through. That's very rare. I hope I don't end up killing him._

"This is the largest group to proceed to the second stage I've ever seen," said the instructor. "I'm impressed. I think that you all will make a fine group of chunin. Proceed to the edge of the Forest of Death for your next test."

"Well that was lame," Temari declared as they walked to the edge of the Forest of Death. "Who was the mook who came up with such a cliché name as the Forest of Death, anyway?"

"Don't know, don't care. So long as this isn't written, I'll be fine," grumbled Kankuro. He was shaking out the cramps in his hand; Kankuro didn't like writing. "I don't really care at what trajectory I have to throw a kunai to hit a target fifty yards away from the top of a one hundred foot tall tree."

They arrived at the gate right on time. "Welcome to the second test in the Chounin exams. In this test you will be required to collect two scrolls and take them to the castle in the middle of the forest. You have three days. You will be given your first scroll before you enter, so you only need one more, either an earth scroll or heaven scroll. To get your other scroll, you simply take it from another team," explained the female instructor. "You have thirty minutes to get ready."

The genin dispersed throughout the field to relax before the challenge.

"Do you think we'll be able to find anything to eat while we're in there?" asked Kankuro. His stomach growled, punctuating his sentence perfectly. "I'm starving."

"I really doubt it," replied Temari with a sigh. "That's the point, to see if we can survive under harsh conditions."

Akki yawned. "I'm bored. I'm going to talk to Hinata." And with that, Akki walked of in search of the shy Hyuuga.

Akki walked slowly around the open area where the genin were waiting. She already knew where Hinata was, and didn't want to interrupt the girl's attempt at Naruto. _Besides_, she thought_, I have some thinking to do._

_What is going on between Gaara and me? I love him like a brother, and that's all. Really. I think. And he feels the same, right? So why mess everything up after I just found him again? Gah, life is so much simpler in the desert, alone without any of these mundane average teenage thoughts. Oh, there's Hinata._

"Hey Hinata," Akki greeted the blue haired girl. Hinata was one of the few girls at the dance Akki had genuinely liked, simply because she was so quiet and shy. At the moment though, the quiet girl seemed sad. "What's wrong?"

"I really, really like Naruto, Akki, and he barely realizes I exist. I'm trying to give him something, and he just brushes me away like, like-" Hinata stumbled in her torrent of words. "I'm sorry, Akki. You don't need to hear my problems."

"I asked remember?" Akki laughed. "Naruto's probly just so excited for the upcoming challenge he can't focus on anything else. Besides, he was really happy to be at the dance with you."

"Really? He told you that?" Hinata urged.

"Let's just say I heard it on the wind," Akki said with a wink.

"Oh, thank you Akki!" Hinata gushed with a genuine smile. She gave Akki a quick hug and ran off to find her team. Akki also ambled back to her siblings.

"What was that about?" asked Kankuro. Akki had a grin plastered across her face.

"Can't a person do good deeds without having a reason?" Akki replied innocently.

Clean up on isle 9, someone has spilled something resembling a plot in the middle of the floor...


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the delay! My mom was out of town this week so I had to stay with my dad and blah blah blah... Plus I had an American History exam to cram for. But it was easy and life is good again, so here I am!  
For anyone who reads this and is a Twilight fan, the reference at the end is my way of lamenting how common place Twilight has become. I liked it before the story was made into a movie, and now that it is so popular the story has basically been ruined for me. So, just remember I am a 'traditional' Twilight fan and mean no disrespect with the comment. It's not even really that bad, but I know how freakin obsessive people get about Twilight.

7

"Here is your scroll," the man behind the desk said as he handed the little brown scroll to Akki. "I hope you do well in the exams and that you don't die!" He smiled at her encouragingly. Akki quirked a smile back. It wasn't an odd statement under the circumstances.

The team ambled over to the gate where they were to enter the forest. "So which one do we have?" Kankuro asked as he propped his arms behind his head comfortably.

"We have an earth scroll," Temari informed her lazy brother. "Which means we need a heaven scroll. Akki, could you look on the wind and tell us who has a heaven scroll? That would make life a whole lot easier."

"Sure," she replied. Calling up a gentle breeze, Akki took a look around the perimeter of the fence where the other teams stood. The image of a heaven scroll drifted lazily across her vision, along with the team who owned it. "One of the Hidden Grass village teams is the closest with a heaven scroll."

"The one with the freaky tongue, or the other one?" asked Kankuro cautiously. The girl with the extra long tongue had proven to be creepy. None of them wanted to run into her in a dark forest for fear of things much worse than a slimy death.

"The other one," Akki assured him. Kankuro and Temari sighed in relief.

"BEGIN!" a voice shouted over the loud speaker. The Sand Genin dashed into the forest.

They had been in the forest for a little over two hours already and hadn't found the scroll. No other teams had bothered them at all, oddly enough. Gaara was like a natural ninja repellant.

"I'm going this way," said Akki, pointing off to the right.

"No you're not," Kankuro and Gaara said simultaneously. They glanced at each other briefly, Kankuro surprised and Gaara disgusted.

Akki sighed. "I was trying to be tactful about this, but I have to piss like a racehorse," she growled. Temari giggled, and Akki glanced at her ruefully. It may not have been the best phrasing, but it was effective.

"Oh," Kankuro said awkwardly. Silence followed.

"You know, in every awkward silence a gay baby is born," Temari stated casually. The other three turned to stare at her. "Well, that's what Shikamaru said any way," she grumbled, crossing her arms.

"I'm going to go pee now," Akki called as she walked off.

Truthfully, she didn't have to pee. A rather unsavory image had floated across her vision and Akki wanted to make sure she was wrong. Unfortunately, Akki knew that the chances of her being wrong were slim when it came to seeing. But the chance of what she saw being true was just as unlikely. Akki sat down on the ground criss-cross to begin.

"Finally, I found you alone," a male voice slithered around from behind her. His image caught on a breeze and was tugged into Akki's line of sight. He had long purple hair and his skin was lavender colored. His eyes were yellow and looked like a snake's.

"Orochimaru," Akki said calmly as she stood up to face him, unconsciously trying to cover her breasts. Orochimaru chuckled at the action.

"Ah, you know who I am. Good. That makes this so much easier," he said reaching for her. Akki danced lightly out of his grasp.

"Yes, I know that you are a major creep. I know that you killed my father. And I also know that you want to kidnap me so that Gaara will destroy Konoha. But I'm afraid that you can't take me right now," Akki said regretfully. Time to think fast.

Orochimaru looked intrigued. "And why is that?"

"Well think about it. It's not really the best time to take me. Wait until the final round of the exam when the Kazekage is supposed to sit with the Hokage to watch the fights. Disguise yourself as the Kazekage. I'll disappear and Gaara will go crazy. And you can kill the Hokage in all the confusion," Akki reasoned. It was a plan worthy of Temari. Sure, she just traded the Hokage's life for her own, but self-preservation and Gaara preservation always seemed to win out over everything.

Orochimaru's grin had been growing wider and wider as she had been talking. "And to think I was about to kill you. If you survive this, maybe I'll take you to the Sound Village with me as an advisor."

Akki smiled back sweetly and shook her head. "Gaara would never approve. If I disappeared, he would never stop searching for me. And when he found you he would try to kill you. Then you would kill him, and I'd kill you and we'd all end up dying needlessly. Too much hassle," she sighed boredly.

"Just make sure that you disappear at the right moment." Orochimaru vanished.

Akki walked back to her siblings as though nothing had changed, though the presence of that pedophiliac snake freak clung to her senses like bubblegum. It was like a cloying sweet film over all of her senses, making her want to gag.

Sadly, the team wasn't where she had left them. Pulling up a breeze, Akki followed their path to a clearing a few hundred feet away. Kankuro was sitting on a rock and Temari was lying on her stomach on the ground beside him, both trying to stay as far away from Gaara as possible.

"You all moved," she admonished lightly as she folded herself lithely onto the ground. As Akki sat down, Gaara moved from where he was standing to sit next to her.

"I got the heaven scroll," said Gaara proudly holding it out to her. She smiled at him and ruffled his hair affectionately. Temari and Kankuro, on the other hand, looked sick.

"What's up with you guys?" Akki asked. It was unlike them to react like that to anything. Nothing grossed Kankuro out and Temari apparently had no gag reflex (genetics, all you perverts out there).

"Gaara killed the three former owners of that scroll right before you walked up," Temari said with a deep breath. Her attempts at abating the nausea were working very, very slowly.

Akki stared hard at Gaara. "Where are the bodies?" she demanded. Without a word, the three genin bodies floated to the surface of the sandy forest floor. "Just leave them there. The Leaf Village will have to ship them back to the Grass Village for burial."

"This doesn't bother you? At all?" asked Kankuro disgustedly. He glanced cautiously at the bodies.

"No, should it?" Akki asked confused.

"Never mind. Let's just get to that center palace or whatever and get something to eat," sighed Temari shaking her head as she stood.

Short Gaara POV

"Akki sure has been taking a long time," muttered Kankuro. Twenty-three minutes, actually, not that I'm counting. But I agree, she has been gone for a while. I don't like it.

"Well, let's see if those Grass genin are around," suggested Temari. Why not? I have a sudden urge to kill.

"You mean us?" a kid called from behind me. I turned around slowly, just to be dramatic. They all were pretty funny looking. And there was the heaven scroll in the front one's hand.

"I'll be taking your scroll," I said quietly. I reached out with sand and took the scroll from the kid's hand. Like taking something simple from something pathetic. Not candy from a baby, because that is a lot more difficult than it looks. Don't ask me how I know.

"What makes you think that we'll just let you take that?" the girl grass genin demanded. Alliteration, go me!

"This," I replied simply. While we had been standing there, I turned the forest floor into sand. "SAND COFFIN!" Sand began creeping up their legs and torsos.

"Gaara no!" yelled Temari. She grabbed my outstretched arm. "Don't kill them!"

Kankuro shoved me backwards. "What is your problem? Akki leaves for a half-hour and you go to pieces!" To pieces? No, Starting to break apart a little bit? Yes. Enjoying it too, I might add.

I reached my arm out and clenched my fist. "AHHHH!" the Grass shinobi screamed, then were silent. I let their bodies be pulled under the earth with the sand. It was less messy that way.

Kankuro moved to sit on a large rock, looking dizzy. Temari sat near him on the ground, trying not to throw up. Wimps. I noticed that they were sitting as far from me as possible.

"You all moved," my Akki jokingly admonished. I turned around, feeling the same giddy sensation that I always feel after killing. Add that to the joy of being in Akki's presence and you have an ecstatic Gaara. Weird huh?

I dove to sit next to her. "I got the heaven scroll!" I proudly declared, holding it out to her. She smiled at me dazzlingly and ruffled my hair. Temari and Kankuro on the other hand still looked sick. Yay.

"What's up with you guys?" she asked, genuinely concerned. Don't look at them, look at me and my amazing scroll!

"Gaara killed the three former owners of that scroll right before you walked up," said Temari breathing deeply. Of course she had to bring that up. Akki won't be happy.

Akki glared at me, as I expected. I tensed for a berating, but she just demanded, "Where are the bodies?" Without a word I raised the three genin bodies from the sandy forest floor. They floated for a moment before I gently set them down infront of her. "Just leave them there. The Leaf Village will have to ship them back to the Grass Village for burial." I love her.

"This doesn't bother you? At all?" asked Kankuro disgustedly. No, it doesn't bother her thank the gods.

"No, should it?" Akki asked confused. Have I mentioned how much I love her? Cause it's a whole lot.

"Never mind. Let's just get to that center palace or whatever and get something to eat," sighed Temari shaking her head. Score one for Gaara. Kankuro and Temari? Nihil.

"We're supposed to put the scrolls where they fit the best," Temari said. The four Sand Genin were inside the front door of the palace, trying to figure out what to do with the scrolls.

Temari opened the scrolls and put them on the big piece of paper where they belonged. And poof! There was one of the Leaf ninja. "Congratulations on making it this far. You all are the first to make it here. My name is Iruka, and I'll show you to your quarters," he said with a smile. His hair was like a pineapple.

The group walked down a hallway lined with doors until they reached the end. "These are your rooms. Girls on one side, boys on the other," Iruka said sternly, the tone clearly telling them that he was a teacher.

Temari laughed at his firmness. "Iruka-sensei, we **are**all related, so there is no need to worry about that," she assured him. Iruka deflated in relief.

"Yep. Besides, Temari, you're not my type," Kankuro said, his tone almost a lament.

"Thank god for that," she muttered.

"And Akki, you're freaking scary," Kankuro continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. Gaara slapped him upside the head.

"Well then I'll let you all get settled. We're eating in an hour, if you want to join us," Iruka said as he walked away.

"Temari and I get the rooms on the left, and you guys can have the ones on the right," Akki declared as she twirled into the room to take a shower. Temari smiled at the boys and followed Akki into the room, locking the door behind her.

Seeing as Akki was already in the shower, Temari sat on the floor infront of the sink waiting her turn. The bathroom was freaking huge. "So what's with you and Gaara?" Temari asked casually.

She heard a squelching noise as Akki slipped on the wet shower floor and regained her balance. "Nothing, why?" the younger girl replied hastily. "Why would you ask that?"

"Because you two were cuddled up pretty close on the couch last night," Temari snickered.

"Ew, Temari that's gross. He's my twin brother for goodness sake!"

Temari snorted in derision. "Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself?"

Akki didn't reply. Temari thought she had gone a bit too far. "Look Akki, I'm sorry. I understand that can't be that great to be questioned by me. I'm kind of mean, I know. Just know that whatever you do you have my support. You aren't blood related to us, so it's ok."

Akki sighed. "I think I'm falling in love with him Temari. And I don't want to. I just want my brother back and to go to the Sand Village and live happily ever after as the Kazekage's little identical twin sister."

"What makes you say that Gaara will become Kazekage?" Temari asked, mocking disbelief in her voice.

"Oh, I didn't tell you? Orochimaru killed father and something is about to happen to cause Gaara to try to become Kazekage." explained Akki. Temari was silent. "Could you hand me a towel?"

"How long ago was this?" Temari demanded, her voice slightly strangled. She handed Akki a towel for her hair and a bathrobe.

"Oh, since this morning. Around," she listened to the wind for a moment, "Two A.M. Your turn in the shower Temari." Akki stepped out of the shower and walked out of the bathroom.

Temari stood where she was, stunned. "She really is like Gaara," she muttered, "In all the wrong ways."

That night, Akki was standing alone on the balcony of her room. In her hand was a buttercup, and she was pulling the petals off of it. "I love him, I love him not. I love him, l love him not. I love him," she murmured as she let the last petal fall.

"I should hope so," said Gaara as he materialized next to her. They stood looking out into the forest in silence for a long while.

"Gaara, this is weird," Akki whispered finally. He looked quizzically at her. "I love you. But you're my brother. And that makes it wrong. But I've missed you so much, and now you're here, and I just can't help it." The last part came out as a sob.

Gaara pulled Akki into his arms and held her close. "Akki, we're not brother and sister. Father lied to us about that, remember? And I missed you too, and I understand. It's okay," he assured her.

"Then why does it feel wrong? Why does my heart hurt?" she asked softly.

Gaara thought over the question for a while. "Because you're scared. Scared of losing me or worse, me losing you. You've protected me for so long that it's first in you mind."

Akki smiled a little. "You're right. Though I don't know why I worry. The sand will always be there to protect you, even if I'm not."

Akki stepped out of Gaara's hold. "I love you Gaara, but let's wait until we get back to the Sand Village before we do anything about it," she said.

"Why?"

"Because we still have the mission to finish. And because Father is dead and you're going to become Kazekage some day soon," she informed him.

Gaara froze. "Why on earth would I want to become Kazekage?" he demanded in the mean voice he usually saved for talking to any one but Akki.

"Well you won't now, duh," Akki agreed with a roll of her eyes. "But by the time we get back to Suna you will. Something is going to happen. I don't know what and I don't know why, but it will. I'm a scryer*, not a seer*."

Gaara stared out into the forest in silence. Akki looked up at him, trying to lift the thoughts right out his mind. Feeling her eyes on him, he said seriously, "Akki, I didn't think I'd ever doubt you, but I don't think I'm betting on the same horse as you in this race."

"Was that a very well disguised Twilight reference?"

"Yes," he replied, hanging his head in shame.

*For anyone who cares, in any story of mine you read 'seeing' means looking into the future, 'scrying' means seeing the present, and 'reading' is glimpsing the past. Just so you know


	8. Chapter 8

And the plot begins to thicken... DUN DUN DUN!

8

"And the next match is…" Hayate began, but a coughing fit interrupted. "Akki vs. Kabuto!" he managed to force out before the hacking took over again, wracking him in so violently he doubled over. Anko rushed down and escorted him away.

Akki grinned at Temari, who rolled her eyes. Medical ninja. Fun, fun, fun. "Well, time to go be amazing," Akki sighed, like it was a boring task. Which it kind of was, but she would still enjoy it immensely. Kabuto was a creeper.

Temari reached out and pulled her into a hug. "Kick some ass, little sister," she ordered playfully. "Show these losers how it's done."

Kankuro wrapped his arms around both of them. "Don't hurt him too much," he joked. Then seriously he added, "Be careful little sister." Akki nodded. There was no arguing with Kankuro when he got all mushy and big brother like.

Akki stepped out of their embrace and looked at Gaara. He hadn't said anything the whole morning. Akki reached out and ruffled his fluffy red hair. He rolled his eyes in response. Akki smiled and hopped over the rail down to the floor.

"So you're Akki," Kabuto said. His tone was polite, but the look in his eyes was… well he looked like a creeper. Just like his master. "A pleasure to finally meet you."

"You as well," Akki said with a smile. A false smile, but still a smile.

"BEGIN!" Anko roared.

Kabuto and Akki stood there across from each other staring for several minutes. Akki grinned ferally at him. Kabuto smirked lightly back. Suddenly they were both moving, running at each other. Kabuto's hands were glowing blue. Akki had a fan in her right hand. At the last possible second, right before Kabuto was about to touch her with the strange blue glow, Akki flicked the fan out.

Kabuto flew back and hit the wall with a smack. Akki twitched the fan the other way. Senbon needles flew from the fan in a cloud and pinned Kabuto to the wall. The rest struck him in the chest, arms, upper legs, and cheeks. His glasses were all that saved his eyes from being skewered.

Kabuto glared at Akki and moved to try to remove the needles, but Akki had expected this. She had one needle left. She threw it at his face, right between his eyes. Kabuto eyes widened as he saw the needle flying toward his skull. Right before it hit his face, Akki flicked her wrist back. The chakra thread that held the needle pulled it back to her hand. Kabuto fainted.

Akki took a deep bow. "Akki is the winner!" Hayate declared, his voice croaking. He looked worse than he had when the exam started.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"That was so cool!" Kankuro exclaimed. Akki's match was the last one, so after a lame speech on how too many genin had passed onto the final round and the next test wasn't for a month, the Sand genin returned to their room in the apartment complex. "When you stopped the needle right before it went through his skull! It was poetry in motion!" Kankuro flopped back onto the sofa to sprawl out, exhausted.

Temari shook her head, but her eyes were bright with excitement. "Yeah, it was all right," she injected boredly. "But the fans were way cooler!" she declared, standing up and striking a superhero pose. "Only a true genius could use a fan like Akki did, and I for one am proud to be her sister!"

"I'm prouder!" Kankuro argued.

"No way!"

Suddenly the two oldest Sabaku siblings were in a wrestling match. "That was my hair!" "Don't kick me there!" It was like a cartoon dust cloud of fighting.

Chuckling at their antics, Akki looked over at Gaara who was sitting in the recliner. "I can only imagine how weird it must have been living with these two," she said with a thumb jerk.

Gaara sighed. "They were weird," he conceded. "They usually left me alone, but one time Temari got the drop on me and put me in a pink leotard."

Akki roared with laughter. "What I would give to see that," she snickered, wiping her eyes clear of the tears that come with too much laughing. "Your hair and pink do not go well together."

Before Gaara could reply, the door was flung open. Baki stepped in and locked the door behind him. He was spattered with blood. Kankuro and Temari stopped their quarrel and stared at him along with Gaara and Akki.

"What did you do?" Temari demanded. She hopped to her feet and walked over to stand infront of their 'sensei'. "Who did you kill?"

"I do not answer to you," he snapped. Baki roughly shoved Temari aside. She stumbled and hit her head on the table. Blood trickled down from her temple and she didn't open her eyes.

Several things then happened at once. Akki rushed to Temari's side to check if she was all right. Kankuro threw a senbon needle laced with a paralyzing agent at Baki and pierced his arm. And before Baki could fall, Gaara cocooned him in sand.

"She's not conscious," Akki said calmly. "I can't tell what's wrong exactly, but she doesn't have any bleeding in the brain. We need to get her to the hospital." Her calm was infectious. Gaara and Kankuro's fury eased when they realized that Temari was okay.

"Can your sand keep him immobile for a while?" Kankuro asked Gaara. The paralysis wasn't permanent; it would begin to ebb in half an hour. Kankuro wanted to be sure that Baki wasn't going to be going anywhere before they could take a piece out of his hide.

Gaara nodded. "It will stay until I tell it not to," he answered. Gaara made a fist, and the outer layer of the shifting sand hardened into sandstone so that it could stand upright like a pillar.

"Good," Akki said. "Now help me carry Temari."

They managed to get a make shift stretcher put together to carry Temari on. Upon arrival at the hospital they were swarmed with nurses demanding to know what had happened. Akki handled all of their questions. As far as they knew, Temari had slipped on a silk shirt and bashed her head on the corner of the table. They rushed her off to a room and closed the door, presumably to run various tests.

This left Gaara, Kankuro, and Akki in the waiting room without a clue as to what was going on. Well, that's what the doctors thought any way.

Gaara sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Akki was lying on the couch on her back. Kankuro had been pacing incessantly, which had finally shattered even Akki's patients. In order to make him stop, she began reading what was on the air.

"They say that she's going to be fine," Akki said, her voice monotone with concentration. Her eyes were wide and her breathing slow and shallow so she could catch everything. "The impact caused her brain to jiggle a bit, causing a black out."

"Good," Kankuro sighed. Sitting down in a chair, Kankuro rubbed his eyes. "Baki needs a punishment, but Temari is the master of torture in our team. Ideas?" he asked Gaara and Akki.

"Just kill him," Gaara replied, as though it were the most obvious answer in the world.

Akki rolled her eyes at him. "Give me a needle, a feather, and twenty minutes," she said seriously. "When I'm done with him, he won't be able to tell one from the other." Kankuro and Gaara stared at her, mouths open in surprise. "What? I don't like torture, that doesn't mean I can't torture."

Before they could reply to Akki's latest revelation about herself, the doctor walked in. "Temari will be fine," he assured them, not that they needed assuring. What they needed was revenge, but it could wait. "We are going to keep her here for a few days because head wounds can be tricky. Also, because we need to wake her up every two hours to make sure she doesn't have a concussion. It was good that you brought her here so quickly. That is what saved her most of all."

"Thank you doctor," Akki said, pretending to be breathy with relief. "If something happens, please let us know immediately. We have to get back to our room and send a message to our father the Kazekage. He must be worried sick."

"Yes, of course," the doctor said with a stereotypical doctor smile. "I'll send word if there are any changes." Without another word he walked out the door.

"Let's go."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"I didn't mean to!" Baki screeched, twisting on the floor in pain. Akki and Baki were alone in her room. After much persuasion, Gaara and Kankuro had agreed to let her deal with him on her own. It wasn't that Akki wanted all the fun to herself, it was for Baki's own protection. If Gaara got a hold of him, Baki would die. Sadly, they needed him alive.

"I don't really care if you meant to or not," Akki reminded him for the tenth time. "But it happened anyway. And you also came in spattered with blood. Hayate Gecko's, from what the wind says."

Baki's eyes widened in surprise. "You knew?" he croaked. His voice was raspy from all the screaming.

Akki sighed and once more restricted the amount of air in his lungs. "You should know by now that there isn't much I don't know. Why did he have to die?"

Baki's face had turned blue, so the kunoichi switched tactics. Instead of emptying his lungs, Akki inflated them almost to bursting. "He figured out that we planned to destroy the village!" the man yelled. Tears streamed down his face. "I was following your father's orders!"

Finally, Akki stopped her violent ministrations on the poor jounin. "Why am I not surprised," she muttered.

Short chapter, I know. But now things start moving!


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry that this took sooooo long to write, but the most major case of writer's block I have ever experienced swamped me. I still don't think that it's gone, but pressing on is necessary. Enjoy the chapter!

9

"What do you mean that father ordered him to kill the coughing guy!" Kankuro exploded. The kitchen windows rattled. "You said he was dead!"

The siblings sat around their living room while Akki told them what information she had squeezed out of Baki. Their sensei was locked in his room, trying to breathe normally again.

Akki took a deep breath, trying to summon the patience required when dealing with her brother's thick headedness. "Father is dead," she replied slowly. "Orochimaru killed him. And now that snake creeper is role playing as Kazekage so he can kill the Hokage."

"I thought we were supposed to kill the Hokage," Gaara remarked.

Akki nodded. "We were. But then I accidentally scryed something that changed that. As I've said before, I'm a seer not a scryer. So if I saw this, it's pretty important."

The three sat in brooding silence for a while. Kankuro was debating whether or not to shake Akki around until she told him what she had seen, but he knew she never would. It was infuriating sometimes the ways Akki was so similar to Gaara.

"So what do we do?" Kankuro eventually asked. They needed a plan, and with Temari out of action for a few days that left Akki in charge.

"For now we wait until the next round of exams," she replied firmly. "The rest will happen in due course. We just laze about for a while."

Kankuro smiled briefly and flopped back on the sofa. "Sounds like my kind of plan."

Gaara wasn't so easily placated. "What is going to happen?" he demanded. Green eyes locked with pale yellow in a demonic staring match, which Gaara lost. "Fine. But don't expect my help."

Akki stood and stretched, ignoring her moody brother. "You'll be of help whether you know it or not," she informed him with a grin. "But for now, I'm going shopping."

-  
The allotted time before the next test was coming to a close. A good thing too, because the Sabaku children were getting restless. Temari, who had finally been released from the hospital, had taken to violent sparring matches with local chunin to stave the boredom. Kankuro paced restlessly, having found that there really was a point of too much sleep. Gaara had started muttering like a crazy person again. Even Akki, their usual ray of weird sunshine, had become worried and irritable.

Akki was the only one who knew what was going to happen though. She found it difficult to keep such information to herself, but managed. If it was spoken, it might not have come to pass the way she wanted.

The day of the exam dawned bright and warm, like most of the mornings in Konoha. The four siblings made their way leisurely to the stadium where the exams were to be held. It was as if a dark cloud had been lifted from them. According to Akki, this was the day that would define their futures. Above all else, no matter what the future held, they knew the wait was over.

Well, the waiting was over until Naruto and Sasuke didn't show up. When the blond boy finally made his appearance he was being chased by a herd of bulls. "Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" he practically yodeled as he ran in to the stadium.

Then there was more waiting for Sasuke, at least until Kakashi showed up and told them to go on without the raven-haired boy.

"What ever," Kankuro grumbled as they trudged up the stairs to the box where they were supposed to wait. "I don't care anymore."

"I miss Suna!" Temari wailed. "I want sand in my shoes again!"

Gaara flicked his gaze over to her, then back to the insane number of steps they were climbing. "That can be arranged Temari, unless you shut up."

Before they could start killing each other in the middle of the hallway, Akki spoke up. "I have to go to the bathroom," she declared, turning to walk all the way back down the steps. The siblings were so caught up in themselves that they never even noticed her walk away.

-  
"Okay you snake, where are you," Akki muttered to herself. Standing atop the Hokage monuments, she scanned the surrounding forest and town with the wind. Not even a breath of air stirred through the town without her knowledge of what was on it.

Orochimaru himself was currently disguised as the Kazekage sitting next to the Hokage. His 'Sound Four' awaited orders for something, Akki wasn't quite sure what. And off in the distance, three giant snakes lay in wait to reduce Konoha to rubble.

That was her first task. Eliminate at least one of the huge serpents. If she could kill one, the entire rest of the day would go as she had foreseen. The Konoha Shinobi would defend their home admirably. The Third Hokage would be killed by Orochimaru. And Gaara would release Shukaku, only to be defeated by Naruto. Then they would return to Suna, where Gaara would become Kazekage.

As she prepared to run off into the forest, Akki pondered why she had been given that brief glimpse of the future. As she so often said, Akki was a seer not a scryer. What important thing would happen because she followed the vision? How would things work out of she ignored it?

"Guess that's why most seers go mad," she remarked to herself. "They see all the things that _could_ be and all the little details that make each possible reality." Pulling out a fan, Akki dashed off towards the forest.

The city was entirely deserted. Everyone was at the Chunin Exams, watching Neji Hyuuga vs. Naruto Uzumaki. The fools had left the town practically defenseless.

-  
There was an obvious difference between knowing she had to kill one of the monstrous snakes and actually being close to one. The huge, purple beast could have just wrapped around the walls of Konoha and squeezed to reduce it to rubble. There was no need to have three snakes.

Akki, avoiding the Sound Ninja wind a well-placed gust, flitted up to the top of the first snake's head. Hopefully, they would reasonable creatures, though probably not considering Orochimaru favored them.

"Hello," she greeted politely, using the wind to make sure that her words floated past his ear. "What are the chances that you'll be reasonable and roll over and die?"

"Very good, actually," he croaked, his old, deep voice coming from within her mind. Akki didn't know how he was doing it, but it was certainly more convenient than speaking aloud. "If you so desire it, daughter of elements."

Akki was utterly perplexed. "I have no parents, elementals or otherwise," she said slowly. Akki had been found in the desert after being sealed with a wind demon. She knew in the deepest part of her soul that was what had happened.

The old snake snorted. "That's exactly what I said," he remarked. His tone made it obvious that he thought her a bit slow. "You are the incarnation of the wind itself, though why the wind chose a female form I shall not live to know."

Akki shook her head. "No, I was abandoned in the desert after being sealed with a demon," she insisted. All her life, Akki had lived with the assumption that she had been abandoned after being sealed with a demon. That was how she liked the world to be; it made sense.

"Think what you will," the snake replied mentally, obviously not caring. He shuddered a bit. "My name is Ume. I would very much like you to put me out of my misery."

Shoving the strange new (false) details she had gleaned to the back of her mind, Akki nodded. "What is wrong with you anyway?" she asked as she pulled out her other fan.

"I am very old, even by our standards," Ume replied. He shuddered once more, like he simply could not get warm. "They sent me on this mission with the hopes I will die. I hoped so as well, but I think you will be much swifter about it, little wind sprite."

Akki nodded. "I would want the same done for me." _Even if you are crazy, thinking that I am the wind._

The snake emitted a weak chuckle, like he heard her thoughts. Perhaps he had. "I will not argue with you, little pest. Kill me now and get on with your mission."

Before she could talk herself out of it, Akki leapt up into the air so she could see all of the snake's long body. It would be a shame to kill the old snake, but if that is what he wanted and what she needed to do, there was no other way. A violent sweep of her fans across her torso, and a moment later the snake erupted into a gusher of blood.

-  
Akki's part of the bargain was done. She had killed that kind monster. Akki had killed people for less, but this was somehow different. In the few minutes that she had known Ume, Akki had grown fond of him. It was a very unusual thing.

The trees seemed to fly past her in a blur. In the distance, smoke rose from Konoha. The acrid smell of burning flesh wafted past her on the wind. Everything was going according to plan.

At least, until a huge blast of desert air overtook her senses. Turning around, Akki saw part of the forest being crunched and crackled, sand flittering about. Gaara must have let Shukaku out. Changing direction, Akki headed back to her twin. This was not part of her premonition.

-  
"Temari, what's going on?" Akki demanded, landing next to her sister. Temari looked sick. "Why is Gaara-?"  
Without looking away from the mass of sand formerly known as Gaara, Temari whispered, "Where did you go, Akki? You could have stopped him."

"I had to protect Konoha," Akki replied, placing a hand on Temari's shoulder in concern. "I didn't think that things would get so out of hand. What's going on?"

"Gaara was fighting that Uchiha brat. Then the invasion came. Gaara ran off and the Konoha shinobi had Sasuke pursue. Gaara wiped him out easily. Then Naruto showed up, with Sakura. Sakura is slowly dying. Naruto is in the process of trying to beat Gaara."

Temari was monotone, staring at the fight in a state of shock. She was tired, too tired to process anything more. Was that the Kyuubi?

"I'm going to talk some sense into him," Akki declared, leaping off the branch where they stood. Temari watched her sister go, hoping that she would see her come back.

The top of Shukaku's head wasn't difficult to get to. Sticking out of the middle was Gaara, but Akki knew it would be useless trying to talk to him. "Shukaku!" she bellowed, ignoring the fight that raged around her.

"What do you want?" he demanded. He had the second creepiest voice she had ever heard; the first belonged to Orochimaru. "I'm in the middle of something, wind sprite."

"I'm going to have to ask you to crawl back inside Gaara where you belong," she informed the demon briskly. Inside, she was terrified. Gaara was in danger.

"Can't do that, I'm afraid," Shukaku replied with a grunt. "I may not like the kid, but now we're both in hot water."

"If you stop, so will Naruto."

A huge, yellow and black eye focused on Akki, looking amused. "Kid, this is the vessel of that Kyuubi bastard I'm fightin'. The chance of him stopping is like a snowflake in a forest fire."

Akki shook her head. Stupid raccoon.

"Who you callin' a stupid raccoon?" the demon demanded, grappling with a giant frog. "I am not stupid! Watch what you're thinkin', wind sprite."

"How can you know what I'm thinking?" Akki asked cautiously. The sand that made up his face was shifting, causing her to have to hold onto the sleeping Gaara for an anchor. "Why are you calling me wind sprite?"

"Cause ya are," he grunted. "And you think loud. Now, you're going to want to move."

Before she could ask why, Shukaku took a hit to the face, knocking Akki from her precarious perch. Down she fell to the forest floor.

Ignoring the branches and leaves that cut her as she fell, Akki tried to swirl the air around her into a cushion. Sadly, the ground was coming way too quickly. She would hit the earth hard, breaking several bones. That she would have at least survived.

But Shukaku decided to disintegrate at that moment. A three-ton glob of sand crashed into Akki, driving the girl into the ground. The sickening crunch her body made was easily muffled by the sand around her. Akki closed her eyes. _Gaara…_ she thought, before the numbing darkness enveloped her.


	10. Chapter 10

Here it is, the awaited chapter ten. Believe it or not, there are only two or three more chapters left in this story. This is time-skipped ahead to Shippuden, so don't get confused.

10

Gaara walked slowly down the hall of the hospital, as was his routine. For three years he had done the same thing every afternoon. Sign papers, listen to Kankuro and Baki argue, walk to the hospital. It was never a chore; a duty yes, but Gaara never resented having to come.

The setting sun threw everything into blazing orange, creating strange shadows here and painfully bright spots there. As usual, the halls were deserted. Gaara still hadn't figured out if that was because everyone knew he came to visit in the afternoons and wanted to give him some privacy, or because most people wanted to get home before the sun had set.

Opening the door as gently as he could, Gaara eased into the room. Unlike the rest of the rooms in the hospital, this one was not bare and sterile looking. Gaara had given very specific orders as to how the room was to be arranged. The walls had been painted a light, chalky red. The floor was thick creamy carpet instead of linoleum. Flowers and knick-knacks cluttered the tables and shelves. In the very center of the room sat a hospital bed, the only thing that looked like it did not belong.

On the bed, Akki slumbered as peacefully as she had for the last three years. Carefully, the Kazekage pulled up a chair to sit next to his sleeping angel. "Hey Akki," he whispered with a small smile. Taking her hand in his, Gaara proceeded to tell her about his day. "You'll never believe what I did to Temari. We needed to send a delegate over to Konoha to help arrange the Chunin Exams. I know that Temmy has been writing that Shikamaru Nara we met in Konoha, so I sent her for the delegation and requested that he be her personal escort. You should have seen her face.

"And then Baki decided that we needed to improve security because of those damn Akatsuki. And if I didn't placate him a little bit, he would have thrown a fit and brought it before the council. So I increased the night guards by 1/3. I just wish we had more information."

Akki shifted a bit in her sleep, nestling closer to the sound of Gaara's voice. Instinctively, Gaara held his breath. No further movement was made. The medic-nin had explained that she was fully conscious and capable of movement. The only problem was that no one had been able to wake her up. Whatever dream had Akki trapped was too strong for even the sound of Gaara's voice to break through to her.

Sighing, Gaara brushed her long hair away from her face. The black and tan streaks had become more dominant, breaking through the monochromatic red. If only she would wake up so he could see her pale yellow eyes.

Akki would be proud of him, Gaara knew. Thanks to Naruto Uzumaki, Gaara had managed to break though whatever darkness had surrounded him. Naruto gave him the path and the willpower to follow it; Akki had imbued him with the desire to strive for it.

"I miss you," he whispered, kissing her forehead gently. "So much." With a last glance at the beautiful girl in the bed, Gaara slipped out of the room as quietly as he had entered.

_-  
I miss you too_, Akki thought ironically as she heard the door of her room shut. Three years she had been trapped in her own body, unable to move. Why? Because when she had twisted the wind around her to try and break her fall, Akki had made a mistake.

In her panic, instead of twisting the wind she had some how turned her own spirit backwards. That flipped all of her bodily functions and confused her nervous system, making everything but hearing impossible.

_And if I could just figure out how to turn around I would tell you that you're about to be kidnapped by the Akatsuki!_ Since hearing was still intact, Akki was able to glean information on the world around her. With a jerk, she tried to turn again.

Sadly, her latest attempts to twist around were once more in vain. Akki slumped back into the depths of her mind to sleep, and hopefully figure out how to get back to Gaara.

-  
"Lord Kazekage!" a shinobi yelled, running down the hall to Gaara's office. Even with the trepidation at having a Jinchuuriki as kazekage, there were some things about it that were convenient. Like Gaara never needing sleep.

"Yes?" Gaara replied, glancing up from his paperwork. The man was disheveled, like he had been asleep and forced to get ready in a hurry. "What's wrong?"

"We're under attack!" the shinobi informed him after making a hasty bow. "A huge, bird-like creature from the sky!"

"Do we have any other information?" Gaara demanded as he stood. Certain parts of the job of Kazekage bored Gaara, like paperwork. But that wasn't enough to make him want to give up the parts that he had a passion for. The protection of his people was of the utmost importance.

"From what we've been told, it might be the Akatsuki," the man panted. Gaara's eye widened, then he took off down the hall, leaving the poor ninja in his wake. "Kazekage wait!"

-  
Akki twisted and turned. The wind incarnate was throwing an all out internal fit. She had to get turned around. If she didn't, Gaara was doomed. No Jinchuuriki had survived the extraction process yet and, as much as she loved him, Akki knew that Gaara would be no different.

"So you're the Jinchuuriki of the Sand," a male voice snickered, the wind carrying his words to its anxious master. "A bit less than I expected."

Gaara chose to remain silent, letting the sand answer for him. Akki would have made some comment along the lines of 'Sorry to disappoint', but this was Gaara's fight. Unless she could get turned around, which seemed unlikely.

Just as she had thought, all of Akki's attempts were for naught. Deidara blew up her precious Gaara's sand and took him away while she lay helpless.

"NOOOOOO!" she shrieked with her mind, loud enough that everyone in Suna felt her anger. The wind outside picked up, brewing a sandstorm that no one had predicted. Akki let the wind run free, channeling her anger into the only part of her that could move. The destruction that would be found in the morning would be tremendous, but Akki didn't care. Gaara was going to die.

Retreating back into her mind, Akki allowed herself one vicious thought before going into a deep sleep. _If Gaara dies, then I shall not wake. I refuse. If the shinobi of Suna cannot return him, then no one will enter or leave this city ever again._

**-  
You are being childish,** a masculine voice chided. His voice was only slightly reproachful. For the most part, he sounded bored and uncaring.

Akki opened her eyes, and was shocked to find that she could. The sight of smoky darkness surrounding her though made her growl in frustration. Akki was in her mind, not looking at the outside world.

**If you hadn't spun yourself the wrong way, we wouldn't be in this predicament,** the man pointed out. He seemed to condense out of the air itself, floating just above the ground and never touching it. His long hair fell to his feet and changed as Akki watched, seeming to follow the seasons. First it was a rich, tumbling brown. Then it shifted to golden honey, curling and swaying. After that it became an earthy red, fluttering and wispy. Last it changed to purest white, floating gently as a snowflake.

_Who are you?_ she demanded. _What is going on?_

Tossing his head back impatiently, the man shot her a glare. **I am you, or more precisely you are me. The wind. And now we're both trapped.**

_How are we both trapped when I just let loose a massive sandstorm to ravage Suna?_ Akki asked. Surely this was a dream, so why not play along? _And why would you choose the form of a girl anyway?_

A breeze flitted around the two beings, tugging gently at them. Out of habit, Akki reached out and gave the breeze a loving stroke. The man across from her shivered as did Akki. Something had brushed her arm. Had that always happened?

**Don't do that,** he ordered. **I chose the form of a girl because I can. And the wind storm you let loose is there because you sent it. It's your anger embodied. Now if we're done with stupid questions, how do you intend to turn us around again?**

_I don't know,_ the girl admitted. Being trapped for such a long time had worn away her stubbornness about certain things. If this guy said she was the wind, who was Akki to argue? _I've been trying for the past three years to do it. I think that someone else will have to do it._

The Wind snorted. **No one in Suna would think to do that. Only the Slug Princess of Konoha would try such a thing.**

_Konoha and Suna have grown very close,_ Akki mused. _And they have a Jinchuuriki as well. Maybe they'll send aid._

That gave Akki an idea. Using the sandstorm she already had outside, Akki pulled in all information she could. Just as she thought.

_A few of my friends from Konoha are coming. We'll be free in no time._

-  
No time turned into a few days. By the time Sakura arrived, Akki was whining to the Wind in impatience. Wind rarely acknowledged her though when she got like that, other than to tell her to shut up.

Even when the Konoha shinobi arrived, they focused solely on Kankuro who had been poisoned. Akki felt bad for her brother, and for Temari who had returned as well. Coming home to such catastrophes had to be bad for her sister's fragile temper.

At long last, it was Kankuro who asked Sakura to take a look at Akki. "Go look at my baby sister," he croaked. "She'll be able to track Gaara for you, if you can wake her up."

Sakura took one look at Akki, running her glowing hand along the prone body with the utmost seriousness. Akki wanted to shout, to tell her what to do, but she was still unable to move.

Then the pink haired girl started laughing. "She's flipped her soul around!" Sakura explained. Glowing hands once more descended on Akki's body. "She's been awake this whole time!"

Temari didn't find this quite so funny. "You mean that Akki has been fine for three years, just trapped by her own stupidity?" the blonde girl demanded.

Akki didn't hear anything after that. It felt as though someone else's hands were touching the inner most part of her, twisting and turning her back to normal. Even with as gentle as the touch was trying to be, the pain was excruciating.

With a suddenness that made her gasp, the pain stopped. And then that dissolved to a minor occurrence, because she _could_ gasp. Sitting up, Akki opened her eyes for the first time in years.

Temari had grown more beautiful, Akki noticed as her sister dove at her. The hug was crushing and much appreciated. "Akki," Temari kept whispering through tears.

Akki returned the hug, noticing how atrophied her muscles were. They probably would have been worse had she not been a force of nature. "Temari, I need to locate Gaara for them," she reminded her sister gently.

"Oh," Temari replied brilliantly as she let go. Adopting a fierce expression, she held out a hand to help Akki to her feet. "Let's go."

Outside, Akki opened herself to the entirety if the wind. She was shocked when strange sights floated across her vision. Buildings of glass and metal, hundreds of feet high. A cart of some kind that powered itself. _Wind? What's going on?_

The answering voice came from far away and was very tired. **You know what you are now. Your true power has been unleashed. Enjoy.**

Cutting back on the power considerably, Akki found the two men that had kidnapped her Gaara. "They're heading for a cave on the border," she explained, releasing the wind with a silent thanks.

Temari nodded. "I'll tell the Konoha nin. They'll bring him back Akki, I promise. Go wait with Kankuro."

As much as she wanted to deny it, Akki needed rest. Ruefully, she looked out at the desert. The hope to go along on the rescue had sprung up without her consent. Staying home sounded oddly appealing though.

Besides, Kankuro needed someone to keep him company, Akki thought mischievously as she turned to follow Temari.


	11. Chapter 11

I appologize for the major time lapse between chapters. Life got hectic for a while, between going to Europe and school starting again... Sorry. On the bright side, this chapter is very long! On the downside, this is the last one. Next is the epilogue! Enjoy!

11

"You know, you're a lot more irritable than I remember," Kankuro grumbled. Akki didn't deign to notice. Her attention was focused solely on this window infront of her, watching as yet another sandstorm of her creation tore through the city.

Akki was worried, and she was surprised that Temari and Kankuro weren't. Perhaps they didn't know what the Akatsuki planned on doing to their brother. Their unwavering faith in Naruto was sweet, but it didn't put Gaara back at her side. Where he belonged.

"Come on Akki," Kankuro pleaded, limping over to join her at the window. His stare was also directed at the pane of glass, but he wasn't looking at her storm. Kankuro was watching Akki's reflected face with concern. "Let's go play a board game or something. As soon as you're distracted, I bet that Gaara will walk right in."

"Kankuro, why does this happen?" Akki demanded, folding her arms as if she was cold. She had been pondering it for a while, even during the time she was trapped in her body. What had they done to deserve such hardship and tragedy? Gaara, Akki, Naruto, Sasuke… the list went on and on. They were only children when burdens beyond those of any shinobis' were placed on them. "Why are our lives so full of pain?"

Sighing, Kankuro wrapped a comforting arm around his little sister. "There's an old saying. The children are punished for the sins of their parents. It's like karma or something," he explained. He smiled when Akki leaned her head onto his shoulder. Kankuro had missed his little sister.

"Why must we be punished for the sins of others?" she whispered, closing her eyes.

"Because we have the strength to bear it that others don't," Temari answered steadily as she walked in the room. She looked tired. The bags under her eyes looked like inky smudges. Her make-up, usually applied so perfectly, was smudged and running due to the crying she had obviously been doing. "Naruto promised to bring him back. We have to trust him."

"If you say so," Akki replied dubiously. Out of boredom and because she could, the sandstorm halted abruptly. Kankuro snickered, causing Akki to shoot him a puzzled look.

"Baki was out on the storm," he explained with a grin. The three siblings had a moment of laughter, picturing their sensei fighting the wind and suddenly falling flat on his face when it stopped so fast.

"Let's get you two something to eat, and then we can find something to apply ourselves to," Temari suggested gently but firmly. Akki nodded, and with one last glance out the window she followed them out of the room.

-  
"So then he's waiting outside, leaning against the wall of some building looking like too damn sexy for his own good," Temari growled, slumping across the table. Akki chuckled. Temari's love life was far more interesting than her own. "Lazy bastard. Sexy, irresistible lazy bastard."

"That's the only reason that Gaara sent you to Konoha," Akki told her sister gleefully. "He told me so. He asked for Shikamaru to be your guard specifically."

Temari turned her head toward Akki and scowled. "He would, the little red-headed twerp. What else did Gaara say?"

"That he wanted you to stop whining about the guy and just make it official already. Also, that Kankuro and some girl named Sonomi need to quit making so much noise. Just because he knows his older brother has a sex life does not mean he needs to _know _his brother has a sex life, if you know what I mean," she giggled, waggling her eyebrows like an idiot. It was nice to be back home. Akki hadn't realized how much she had missed Suna. For the life of her she could not remember how Gaara had convinced her to leave the city.

"Are you serious?" Temari demanded, jerking upright. Her jaw had dropped, giving her a fish-like appearance. "Kankuro is tumbling Sonomi?"

Akki nodded. Her wicked grin attested to the fact that she was enjoying the shock factor. "I love that terminology. Who is she, anyway?"

"Just a girl who works at the commissary. She's not even an shinobi," Temari explained, leaning closer conspiratorially. Gossip partners had apparently been few and far between. "She is beautiful though, and nice I suppose." Akki snickered; Temari wouldn't know nice if it bit her in the face.

"Who's nice?" Kankuro asked as he sat down next to Temari. His lunch tray was filled with potatoes: potato salad, mashed potatoes, French fries, and even pirogues. "'Cause you sure ain't talking about Temmy."

Ignoring the jab, Temari stared at her brother's choice of foods. "Do you want your heart to explode?" she demanded, leaning over to steal a fry.

"What?" he cried indignantly. "It's comfort food."

Silence came over the three of them like a suffocating blanket. If Gaara were still there, they wouldn't need comfort food.

"So," Akki asked with a somewhat forced smile, "Our Kankuro has a girl friend?"

Kankuro choked on his mashed potatoes. "Where did you hear- Gaara," he growled, throwing his fork onto the table. "Little snitch."

"In his defense, he thought I was in a coma," Akki reminded him gently. "So?"

It was a great show of strength on Kankuro's part to not reply with 'so what'. "So, she's beautiful and kind and amazing and all that I could ever want. Sonomi sees me for me, and loves me despite how lazy you all think I am," the puppeteer explained, sticking his tongue out at his sisters. "Your turn Temmy. What do you see in that Nara guy?"

"Shikamaru is handsome, brilliant, and witty, among other things. And he happens to think the same of me, when he's not being a sexist idiot," she replied with a slight grin. She only answered because Kankuro had been just as honest with them.

Temari and Kankuro both flicked their eyes to Akki briefly before beginning to change the topic. "So I was talking to Baki the other day-"

"Your subtlety hasn't improved much in three years," Akki scoffed at her brother. Honestly, she wasn't some fragile little flower who needed to be sheltered from the unpleasantness of life. "I love Gaara because he's overprotective, possessive, and the sweetest person I have ever met."  
Leaning closer, Temari clasped Akki's hand. "Akki, we just wanted to keep off of hurtful topics," she said fervently. "We know how close you and Gaara are. I promise that as soon as Gaara gets back, our conversations will be like walking on broken glass."

Kankuro elbowed his older sister in the ribs. "Gods Temmy," he exclaimed, showering his sisters with potato. "Let the girl be. If Akki wanted to-"

"Kankuro! Temari!" a young girl with blue hair called as she ran up to the siblings. Her hair was windblown and her clothes were disheveled, as though she had been traveling. "They've found him!"

"They found Gaara?" Kankuro demanded. Stumbling to his feet, the puppeteer grabbed the girl by her shirtfront. "Where? When?"

"He's near border," the girl choked out. "The Leaf Shinobi found him. They require back up."

Dropping the kunoichi, Kankuro sprinted out of the room. "Assemble a team of twenty-five," Temari ordered, sliding off of her chair gracefully. "We meet at the gate in eight minutes. GO!"

The girl, having been thoroughly terrified by the Sabaku siblings, gave a short bow and rushed off to do as she was bid. Temari didn't run so much as walk at a swift pace.

"Akki," Temari said distractedly as they raced down the hall, "I need you to go and alert the council. After that, go up to the wall and help the fortifications. You need to scry for us. If we need back up-"

"I'm coming with you," Akki interrupted, skidding to a stop. How could she think that Akki wouldn't come? "You'll need me more than they do."

Not bothering to turn around, Temari called back, "That's an order."

_Order my ass. Gaara is in dying, and they think that they can leave me here. I am the WIND. I take orders from no mortal._

-  
"Akki, I thought I told you to go up on the wall!" Temari fumed. Akki was perched on the railing just inside the gate. "I order-"

The spirit incarnate was on her feet in and glaring up into her sister's face a flash (though for all Temari knew Akki had disintegrated into the wind and re-formed), and she was furious. "You don't order me, Temari. I will not be left behind like a child."

"You need to learn your place in this city, and this family," Temari hissed, looming over her little sister. "You obey Gaara, Kankuro, and I. If we say jump, you ask how high. You are not above the law or the natural order of things."

The sky immediately darkened. Thick chunks of hail suddenly began to rain down, falling so hard that they struck holes into the compact sand of the streets. Thunder rolled in the distance. The wind howled, low and dangerous, whirling about Akki like a robe.

A hailstone struck Temari between the shoulder blades, forcing her to the ground. "Now you listen to me, sister dear," Akki growled low in the back of her throat. There was a look of slow burning contempt on her face as she looked down at Temari. "I am not a real member of you little 'family'. I was created to house forces the likes of which you will never know. I am not human. I am an _elemental being_; the natural order I belong to has the power to level mountains and topple nations. I obey my original incarnation only."

"No wonder Gaara loves you," Temari groaned out, looking defiantly up at Akki. "You both think you're omnipotent. Above the law and rules of society. He became kazekage to prove that. You lived in the desert for ten years to show that you needed no one and nothing. Now look at where the two of you are. He's dead, and you're going to end up killing the rest of us."

"At least I'll be rid of a few bad memories," Akki spat. Lifting her arms, she began to call stronger winds.

"OW!" Even the best-laid plans of elemental beings and Jinchuuriki go awry, though. Kankuro had trotted up, looking like an affronted cat. "What the HELL is up with the ice balls? We have to go get Gaara! And Akki, we need you to tell us where he is real quick."

The brilliant brother didn't even ask why Temari was on the ground, crying in pain. Halting the storm, Akki pulled gently on a passing current. The last time she had pulled to hard, weird visions danced on the wind.

There was Gaara, on the ground under the hands of Naruto and Chiyo, in the same place as the last time she checked. Akki told Kankuro as much.

"Good," he nodded. "Temmy, get up. We have to go. Akki, we need you to stay here and hold down the fort. I know you probly don't _want_ to, but in the event that none of us return, you become kazekage."

Akki gaped at the puppeteer. "You mean that I summoned a hail storm to beat up Temari for nothing! Why didn't she tell me that in the first place!"

"Temmy's got a superiority complex, and she's over protective of Gaara," Kankuro snickered, earning him a jab in the ribs from Temari. "You just ended up drawing the short straw of her anger."

Akki smiled, then evaporated into the wind. If she was going to play sentinel, she might as well do it on the wall above the main gate. Reassembling, Akki took a cross-legged position on the railing.

Out from the gate ran a group of thirty-or-so ninja, heading out to rescue her love.

**-  
I thought you would have torn the city down by now,** the Wind remarked dryly from inside Akki's head.

And why is that?, she replied, still keeping half and eye on what was happening to Gaara. Chiyo was dead, Gaara was alive, Naruto was a hero, and they were all coming home. Mission accomplished.

**Because you are my most recent incarnation, and I do not take orders well,** he snickered, rustling her hair lightly with a breeze.

Akki chuckled. Her moods were more inconstant than she remembered, but that was probably because of the whole 'awakening' thing. For the first time since she had come out of the coma, Akki reveled in the feeling of the air flowing around her. It caressed her skin like an affectionate cat; she had missed the familiar presence.

Up in the air red-tail hawks glided gently, silently stalking their prey. The sun glinted off of their wings. The perfect predators, in Akki's opinion. Beautiful, silent, and savage.

**Vastly similar to your intended mate,** the Wind interjected. **Though, perhaps more like you. They are easily affronted, uncontrollable, and obstinate.**

Don't you have somewhere better to be? she asked, rolling her eyes. You're ruining my moment of perfect happiness.

**Fine. I will go back into the dark recesses of your mind, away from the air and light,** he replied with feigned injury. Akki felt him slip back to the back of her mind. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the smile that threatened to appear. She might have actually enjoyed talking with him.

A puff of air drifted lazily past her sight. It was Gaara. Looking down, she saw him and the others approaching the gate.

With a squeal of glee, Akki leapt off the railing. Her descent was slow, but that was okay. Better to take her time landing than to break her legs the moment Gaara gets home.

Gaara was staring up at her like he had the day she returned from the desert: confused, bored, and not realizing what he saw. Rather than landing, Akki hovered infront of him for a few moments. He was taller, and had better taste in clothing now. His pale green eyes were still the same ones that she knew and loved.

Flitting around his body, she was pleased to see that he wasn't injured. "Well, at least they didn't break you," she said with a nod. His eyes widened comically. It had taken him that long to recognize her.

"But how?" he asked quietly. It was almost as if he was awed by her presence. Reaching out a reverent hand, he stopped just short of caressing her cheek. "You were nearly dead…"

Akki nuzzled his outstretched hand. "So were you," she replied. Landing on the ground, Akki pulled the shocked Kazekage into an embrace.

"Akki," h murmured into her hair as he held her tightly. The elemental leaned back and gave him a questioning smile. Gaara's smile made her heart skip a beat. The love in that single look was enough to make the wounds of the past three years heal. Well, the kiss that followed didn't hurt either.

A round of enthusiastic applause went up behind the strange pair. Akki didn't care; the city had better get used to it. After all the shit life had thrown at them, they were finally together. The Jinchuuriki King and his Elemental Queen. A fairytale ending, which retrospectively, was all Akki had wanted in the first place.

**Gaara POV (we haven't had one of these in a while, huh?)**

The sand is excited about something, but I can't tell what. It won't stay still enough for me to demand an answer. With the attention span it has though, it might still be excited about being live.

I don't see why. All that means is that I get to go back to being Kazekage, with Temari and Kankuro walking on eggshells trying not to mention HER. Everyone in the city is so worried that mentioning HER will put me either into a rage or a depression.

They should really give her a statue. Right in the middle of the city, for everyone to admire. That way, if she never wakes up I'll still be able to see her smiling face. She really did save the entire city. Her and Naruto.

Would she be disappointed in me for wanting to die? I don't think so, but she always surprises me. We've been trying to kill ourselves since we were infants, if you think about it. The sand and wind always got in the way.

Naruto and Chiyo brought me back to life, and I'm grateful. Anything that Naruto does is for the good, so there must be a reason I'm alive. And Chiyo is dead, so I don't have to listen to her rambling speeches on 'the old days'. The old bitch never knew when to-

WHAT THE HELL IS BLOCKING MY SUNLIGHT! I AM RANTING TO MYSELF HERE! Oh. They're just red hawks. Them I can forgive.

That other dark shape flying toward me had better identify itself though; otherwise it will die quicker than you can say 'sand coffin'.

"Kankuro, what is that?" I demanded quietly from my brother. He's not left my side since I 'woke up', as they insist on calling it.

Looking up, an idiotic grin smattered across his face. "Halt!" he called back to the group behind us. They actually listen, much to my surprise. When did Kankuro develop leadership skills? "You go on ahead, Gaara."

I'm sure my expression was thunderstruck for a moment, but I masked it well with a glare. Kankuro just grinned wider and gave me a push forward.

I tried to use my hand to block the sun, but it didn't work very well. The dark shape is gliding closer. It looks like it has wings; maybe it's a bird. No, those aren't wings. They're not moving.

It's an angel. It's close enough to see the face now, and it's an angel. Her long red-black-tan streaked hair is floating in the air as she comes to hover just infront of me.

Yellow eyes critique me. Perhaps she is an angel of death. She certainly looks like a warrior. Coming back from the dead is probably against the laws of nature. Perhaps she will kill me.

Gliding on air, she circled around me with an appraising look. Coming back around, she nodded. "Well, at least they didn't break you," she remarked. That voice!

My eyes felt like they were about to pop out of their sockets. Akki!

"But how?" I asked, utterly awed, and reached out to touch her face. I stopped just short of her skin, incase she was a mirage. "You were nearly dead…"

Nuzzling my hand, she smiled. "So were you," she replied. Akki landed on the ground and wrapped her arms around me. I reciprocate the gesture, shocked.

"Akki," I murmured into her hair, closing my eyes and holding her close. She leaned back and gave me a questioning glance. I smiled, the first true smile in years, and kissed her.

Various cat-calls and whistles, along with a round of applause went up behind us. I didn't care; they had better get used to it. I felt like I was flying. Though knowing Akki, perhaps we were.

FIN


	12. Epilogue

I feel like such a bad person for not updating in so long. I'm sooooo sorry; I did not expect this to take very long. In truth, it didn't. But finding time to get what was in my head down on a Word document was difficult.

So, here's the epilogue. I like it, and I hope you all will too. Please review, it would mean a lot to me (even if I don't deserve it due to lack of updating). WARNING: implied sex (absolutely nothing explicit, I promise [sorry for those of you who wanted some]) and massive amounts of FLUFF.

Epilogue

The sun shone brightly over the desert sand, refracting on the tiny crystals into rainbows on the ground. A light breeze danced through the waking city, but that was normal; since the Kazekage's return the air had not been completely still, and that was seven years earlier.

On a roof sat a young woman with pale yellow eyes and long red hair. Beside her was the Kazekage himself. Silence sat between the couple, but it was a content silence. It was a happy day, and soon to be a busy one. They were savoring the silence while they could.

"The party from Konoha will be here soon," Gaara remarked, turning to face Akki. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. The sunlight hit her hair perfectly, illuminating it like fire with streaks of obsidian and topaz. Absolutely beautiful, and all his.

Akki nodded at his statement. "They'll be at the gate in a few minutes," she informed him, gesturing to the city walls. "You should go. The Kazekage should be the first one to greet the Hokage. It's good manners."

"If I'm not there, Naruto will probably make an idiot of himself," Gaara agreed with gentle humor. The years since he had been Jinchuuriki-napped had been filled with a long struggle that finally ended when Naruto became Hokage. Everyone had mellowed out a bit, and it was a day to mark the changes that had taken place.

With a quick kiss on the top of his lover's head, Gaara disappeared in a cloud of sand. Akki smiled and swung her legs back and forth off the edge of the building.

"AKKI!" The morning's tranquility was shattered by Temari's screech. "WE HAVE TO GET READY!"

Akki chuckled and slid off the roof. Floating gently to the ground, she shook her head. **Almost** every one had mellowed. Not Temari though. They had hoped that her marriage to Shikamaru would calm her down, but it only seemed to make her more agitated. But it could be forgiven; after all, it was Akki and Gaara's wedding day.

-  
"So you're finally marrying her?" Naruto laughed as he clapped Gaara on the back. Gaara gave him a playful smack on the back of the head in return. The guards ignored the strange exchange between the two rulers with only a little chortling. "Good! The world needs more red-headed babies."

Rolling his eyes, Gaara gave Naruto one more smack before they started walking. "So how is the reconstruction going?"

"Not bad. Konoha always springs back. Will of fire and all that stuff," Naruto replied, waving off the question. He pinned Gaara with a no-nonsense look. "Today is about you and your weird yet lovely girlfriend. No talk about anything non-wedding related until after the deed is done. Okay?"

"Yes Naruto," Gaara muttered. Tilting his head back to look at the clouds, the kazekage let out a wistful sigh. "I just can't believe it's really happening. I mean, I never expected to get married."

"Yeah, the whole 'mass-murdering-Jinchuuriki' thing must have put a damper on those thoughts," Naruto injected cheekily. Gaara ignored him.

"Then Akki came along and threw life into chaos. I still never expected to get married. Love her with an undying devotion for the rest of my life, yes. But marriage just never crossed my mind."

"Better yet, let's talk about anything but the wedding," Naruto chuckled. Gaara laughed as well; he knew he was a head over heels idiot about the entire affair.

-  
"And then he pulled out THIS!" Sakura squealed, shoving her hand into Akki and Temari's faces. On her hand was a simple pale gold band with a reasonably sized princess cut emerald on the top. "Isn't it romantic?"

Temari and Akki oohed and ahhed. "Lee finally proposed?" Temari asked excitedly, turning Sakura's hand to see the ring at a different angle. "Finally one of us gets a proper proposal."

"It's not our fault that Gaara has no backbone and that you got knocked up," Akki retorted. She had been the one to propose to Gaara. Temari on the other hand-

"Momma, Uncle Kuro told me to find the wedding fairy, but I think he was lying to me!" a little boy with blond hair sticking up from his head like a pineapple yelled as he ran into the room.

"Did you ask your father?" Temari demanded.

The little boy nodded vigorously. "And he said that it would be floating around you, cause you're the bridesmaid. Daddy said it likes you because you're always the bridesmaid an' not the bride," he explained in that adorable way that four-year-olds have.

Temari's eyes narrowed. "The wedding fairy is probably hanging around the bar with your father in the reception area. Go look there," she suggested.

With a squeal of delight, the child ran out. Akki chuckled at his antics. Temari was lucky to have such an energetic little boy.

"Now," Temari said, steering Akki over to a mirror, "Let's get you in this dress."

-  
Gaara stood at the end of the aisle next to Naruto, Kankuro, and the official who would perform the marriage. The sun was beating down on them like a hammer; wearing black might not have been the best idea no matter how good they looked.

The room was spectacular. The wedding was being held in a long rectangular room. The room had no ceiling; instead, the beams that would usually support a ceiling cast unique shadows down on the large group that had gathered. Every few feet on the beams sat a red-tailed hawk.

With a grand rushing of wind, the doors flew open. First came the bridesmaids. Temari, Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten walked down the aisle, smiling and slightly teary eyed. Their dresses were bright red and simple; they had originally wanted the dresses to be black, but Temari put her foot down. Next came Temari's son holding a black silk pillow on which balanced two rings that glinted in the afternoon sun. Trotting carefully behind him was Hinata's three-year-old daughter. From the basket around her arm she tossed tiny handfuls of red and yellow rose petals.

Finally, the bride entered. Akki's long red hair had been coiled elegantly at the back of her head, framing her smiling face with two long curls. Her dress was beautiful; the long white satin flowed simply and elegantly behind her, shifting in a breeze of its own. No fancy ruffles, no lace, and no veil. The only accentuation the dress had was a red bow tied around her waist at the back. No walked with Akki to give her away; it was Akki's way of tipping her hat to the force of nature that created her.

Gaara had thought of Akki as an angel several times, but this moment outshone any of those that had come before.

Arriving at her betrothed's side, Akki let her face break into a smile. They were really there and really doing it. Marriage. The legal binding of one person to another.

The ceremony and vows were typical. The 'I do's' were exchanged. "You may now kiss the bride," the kindly old man said.

Gaara and Akki stared at each other for a few seconds, just smiling contentedly. It was not really the beginning of a new life or the end of an old one, the way marriage is usually seen. The ceremony did not really change anything for them; it was mostly sentimental. But it brought to the forefront one thing that they had always just accepted without really acknowledging: they were going to be together for the rest of their long shinobi lives. Compared to the lonely desert where they started, this was the happiest moment of their lives.

So of course, Kankuro had to ruin it. "Just kiss already," he sighed in exasperation. "All of this mush is making me nauseous."

With a wicked grin directed to her older brother, Akki pulled Gaara's head down. The kiss was somewhere between chaste and passionate, more amused and teasing than anything else.

When the new couple broke apart, the hawks took flight. A single red feather drifted lazily down to land on Akki's shoulder. **Don't you clean up nice?** the Wind's familiar voice whispered in her head. It was as close to a congratulation as Akki was going to get from her origin.

-  
Akki sat on the railing of the balcony outside their bedroom, staring at the stars and feeling the breeze on her skin. Strong arms came up behind her, encircling her waist. Leaning back into the warm embrace, Akki sighed in contentment.

"Eventful day," Gaara remarked, looking down at his wife. At first people had found the adoration he showered on Akki strange; after a while, they just accepted it as a cute, quirky part of a very weird relationship. Like a lesser evil, so to say. Gaara had never understood why they thought that. Akki was the sun, moon, and stars to him. She had saved him from himself and loved him despite all he had done. If that didn't deserve adoration, nothing did.

"Very," she agreed, tilting her head back to smile at her husband. "Though I don't think we've ever had an uneventful day."

"True," he replied with a serious nod. "But that's for the best. I shudder to think what would happen if you became bored."

Akki elbowed him gently. "Haha. I'll have to inform the council that the Kazekage has developed a sense of humor," she replied.

"They won't believe you," Gaara countered, leaning down to kiss his bride.

"Mmm," she hummed, enjoying the gentle contact. "I can be very persuasive."

Gaara picked Akki up bridal style and carried her into their bedroom. Dropping her gently on the bed, he laid down beside her. "I know that better than anyone," he declared, caressing her cheek tenderly. As always, Akki nuzzled his hand like a kitten.

Their eyes locked, almost like cold eyes of two predators who, when seeing their mate, soften. Neither was sure who moved first, but it didn't matter. Lips crashing on lips, sighs mingling. This is where they belonged. In each other's arms, for eternity.

Later that night, Akki lay contentedly in her husband's arms, bordering on sleep. Her thoughts were stilled for the moment, still basking in an afterglow she thought might never end. It wasn't just from making love, though that had been quite good too, thank you very much. Life, for once, was good. Akki had everything she had ever wanted and a few things she hadn't known she needed. It was a glow of self-satisfaction, like a cat basking in sunlight.

Gaara held Akki close, watching her fall asleep. The day had not been a beginning or an ending. It was just another day in their lives. The day was a mark of permanency. When they woke up, they had been Akki and Gaara, two people madly in love and happy. And when they get up the next morning, they would still be Akki and Gaara, two people madly in love and happy. Gaara felt himself grinning; the unspoken whispers of eternity stretched out before him, promising a life of happiness, laughter, and mischief. That sounded like a good plan to him.

"You're cute when you grin like that," Akki remarked quietly, reaching up to stroke Gaara's cheek. "What's the occasion?"

Gaara was tempted to point out the obvious (I just got married to the girl of my dreams and she is now lying naked in my arms post-coital while basically purring about life like the control freak she is), but he refrained. Just barely.

"Just thinking," he replied, kissing her forehead, "about the future. Eternity is a long time to spend with any one person, but I suppose that it won't be **too** bad with you."

Akki laughed and kissed her husband fondly. "You're lucky I love you," she told him.

"So very lucky indeed," he agreed, pulling her closer for a more passionate kiss.

_Oh well,_ Akki thought,_ sleep can wait. We do have eternity, after all._


End file.
